BV 

3790 

.S67 

1856 

c.l 


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^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  *g 

Presented   \^^\X\\'^  CKx'x~\o\ckG\'^K\AC 

BV  3790  .S67  1856  c.l 
Smyth,  Thomas,  1808-1873 
By  whom  is  the  world  to  be 
converted? 


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§B  IdJom  is  i\t  foflrfir  to  k  Conlitrttb? 


OR 


CHRISTIANS 

CHRIST'S  REPRESENTATIVES  AND  AGENTS 


FOR    THE 


CONVEESION  OF  THE  WORLD. 


BY 

THOMAS  ^SMYTH,  D.  D. 


PUBLISHED    BY    BEQUEST   OF   THE    SYNOD     OF     SOUTH    CAROLINA.i 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 

No.  265  Chestnut  Stbebt. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856, 

By  JAMES  DUNLAP, 

In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District 
of  Pennsylvania. 


Then  said  Jesus  unto  his  disciples,  If  any  man  ■will  come  after  me,  let 
him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me. 

As  thou  hast  sent  me  into  the  -world,  even  so  have  I  also  sent  them 
Into  the  world. 

For  none  of  us  liveth  unto  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  unto  himself. 

And  Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them,  saying.  All  power  is  given  unto 
me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations, 
baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world.    Amen. 


The  Rev.  C.  Simeon  thus  wrote: — ''Religion  in  its 
rise  interests  us  almost  exclusively  about  ourselves ;  in 
its  progress  it  engages  us  about  the  welfare  of  our  fel- 
low-creatures ;  in  its  more  advanced  stages,  it  animates 
us  to  consult  on  all  things,  and  to  exalt  to  the  utmost 
of  our  power  the  power  of  God." 

''The  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the  universal  bene- 
factor ;  and  it  is  by  such  free  giving  of  his  free  receiv- 
ings, that  he  not  only  enriches  the  world,  but  that  he 
obtains  grace  for  grace,  and  augments  the  strength,  the 
beauty,  and  the  happiness  of  his  own  soul.  By  such 
scattering  he  increases." — Dr.  James  Hamilton. 

"If  any  man  doubts  whether,  as  a  Christian,  he  is 
bound  by  the  terms  of  his  discipleship,  to  aid  by  prayer, 
self-denying  sacrifice,  and  personal  exertion,  in  preach- 
ing the  gospel  to  every  creature,  let  him,  as  the  Duke 


OF  Wellington  once  appropriately  and  graphically- 
said,  '  look  to  his  commission,  and  there  find  his  march- 
ing orders.'" 

'"Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  for  my  yoke  is  easy  and 
my  burden  is  light.'  Truth,  Lord !  a  light  burden,  indeed, 
which  supports  him  who  bears  it.  I  have  looked  abroad 
through  nature,  to  see  if  I  could  find  anything  that  could 
bear  some  analogy  to  this ;  but  I  cannot  find  it,  unless 
it  be  the  wings  of  a  bird,  which,  while  borne  of  the 
creature,  bear  him  aloft.  In  trath,  to  bear  the  Lord's 
burden  is  to  be  permitted  to  cast  it,  together  with  our- 
selves, into  the  arms  of  Omnipotence  and  Grace. — 
Bernard  op  Clairvaux. 

Luther  says: — <<The  command  of  love  is  a  short 
command,  and  a  long  command,  a  simple  command  and 
a  multitudinous  command,  no  command  and  every  com- 
mand ;  for  the  command  of  love  destroys  all  commands, 
and  yet  establishes  all." 

"It  has  been  an  intense  and  a  growing  conviction  in  the 
minds  of  some  of  us,  that  there  is  not  at  this  moment 
one  single  Church  in  Christendom,  as  a  whole,  in  any 
way  adequately  alive  to  the  reality,  the  true  nature,  and 
transcendent  grandeur  of  God's  greatest  work  on  earth, 
even  that  of  the  evangelization  of  the  world." — Dr. 
Duff. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 
Preface 7 

The  Kingdom  of  Christ  destined  to  become  uni- 
versal  9 

This  Universality  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  to  be 
brought  about  thi-ough  the  instrumentality  of 
Man 17 

Self-Denial,  and    living   for  others,   a  universal 
law  among  all  holy  beings,   and  restored  by 
Redemption 25 

This  principle  of  Love,  and  living  for  others, 
illustriously  exemplified  in  God,  and  in  Christ 
our  Saviour 30 

Christianity  the  embodiment,  and  Christians  the 
living  models,  of  this  spirit  of  self-denying 
love 33 

Selfish  piety  not    only  not    Christian,  but  anti- 

christian 42 


6  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
The  extension  of  God's  kingdom  has  always  been 

a  trust  for  which  man  has  been  responsible 50 

Active,  self-denying  and  liberal  co-operation  in  the 
cause  of  Christ,  not  indifferent,  but  essential 
to  Christians  and  Churches 58 

All  can  do  something 64 

This  is  the  only  way  to  secure  prosperity  and  peace, 

here  and  hereafter 66 

No  man  liveth  or  dieth  unto  himself. 73 

Our  churches  and  church  members  must  do  more. ...  80 

What  can  be  done  ? 81 

Motives  for  doing  what  every  one  can  do 83 

Appendix 95 


PREFxiCE. 


The  author's  design  in  this  argument  is  to 
bring  the  subject  of  liberality  and  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions  not  only  to 
the  consideration  of  the  understanding,  so  as 
to  awaken  conviction,  but  into  the  more  inti- 
mate presence  of  the  affections  of  the  heart, 
so  as  to  make  it  feel  that  this  is  a  work  that 
comes  home  to  every  man's  business  and 
bosom.  He  would  appeal,  therefore,  not 
merely  to  faith,  but  also  to  hope;  not  merely 
to  a  sense  of  obligation,  but  also  to  that  of 
interest  and  self-love.  He  would  show  that 
the  conversion  of  the  ivorld  is  not  only  a 
work  that  shall  be,  and  that  ought  to  be,  ac- 
complished, but  that  it  is  one  in  whose  ac- 
complishment every  individual  Christian  and 
church  has  both  a  partnership  and  a  pro- 
prietorship; both  a  labour  to  perform  and 

(7) 


8  PREFACE. 

remuneration  to  secure.  He  would  thus  im- 
part to  his  readers  not  only  conviction  of  a 
trust,  but  a  willingness  to  recognize,  and 
power  to  fulfil  it.  He  would  enkindle  not 
only  a  greater  readiness  and  desire  towards 
this  "good  work,"  but  love  itself.  And  by 
showing  the  relation  in  which  activity  in  this 
mission  of  the  Church  stands  to  immortality, 
to  union  and  fellowship  with  Christ,  and  to 
spirituality,  and  hope,  and  joy,  he  would 
desire  to  make  that  a  labour  of  love  and  a 
life  of  pleasantness  and  peace,  which,  in  the 
light  of  obligation  merely,  might  wear  to 
some  the  aspect  of  hopelessness,  self-denial, 
and  unrequiting,  if  not  useless  toil. 

May  He  who  has  graciously  declared,  that 
he  is  glorified  when  his  disciples  bear  much 
fruit,  and  that  they  prove  their  love  to  him 
by  their  obedience  to  his  commandments,  ac- 
company this  appeal  with  his  Spirit,  and 
cause  his  Church  and  people  to  arise  and 
shine,  the  glory  of  the  Lord  having  arisen 
upon  them. 


BY  WHOM  IS  THE  WORLD  TO  BE 
CONVERTED? 


THE    KINGDOM    OF   CHRIST   DESTINED    TO    BECOME    UNIVERSAL, 

Evert  one  who  receives  the  Bible  as 
"given  by  inspiration  of  God,"  must  believe 
that  it  will  be  all  verified  through  the  work- 
ing of  that  infinite  wisdom  and  power  with 
which  he  makes  all  things  to  conspire  for 
the  fulfilment  of  his  purposes,  so  that 
though  heaven  and  earth  may  pass  away, 
one  jot  or  tittle  of  all  he  has  said  shall  in 
no  wise  pass  away  till  all  be  fulfilled. 

Every  believer  in  the  Bible  must  there- 
fore be  convinced  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
is  destined  to  extend  its  spiritual  conquests, 
until  it  shall  include  within  its  dominion  all 
kingdoms  and  nations.  Nothing  can  be 
more  explicit  than  the  repeated  declarations 
of  this  purpose,  contained  in  the  word  of 
2 


10  BY   WHOM    IS    THE  WORLD 

God.  "I  ■will  declare  the  decree.  The 
Lord  (L  e.  Jehovah)  hath  said  unto  me, 
Thou  art  my  Son;  this  day  have  I  begotten 
thee.  Ask  of  me  and  I  shall  give  thee  the 
heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession." 
This  is  a  part  of  the  covenant  which  has  been 
entered  into  between  the  Father  and  the  Son 
in  "  the  counsel  of  peace  that  was  between 
them  both."  Therefore  all  nations  and 
kings  are  commanded,  at  their  peril,  to 
recognize  and  be  in  subjection  to  Christ. 
(Psalm  ii;  see  also  Psalm  ex.)  This  is  no 
doubtful  interpretation.  Of  this  same  decree 
we  have  another  account  by  the  prophet 
Daniel  (vii.  13,  14,  27);  "I  saw  in  the  night 
\isions,  and  behold,  one  like  the  Son  of  Man 
<;ame  with  the  clouds  (the  myriad  host)  of 
heaven,  and  came  to  the  Ancient  of  Days, 
and  they  brought  him  near  before  him. 
And  there  was  given  him  dominion  and 
glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people,  na- 
tions, and  languages  should  serve  him.  His 
dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion,  which 
shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  that 


TO   BE    CONVERTED?  11 

which  shall  not  be  destroyed.  And  the 
kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of 
the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall 
be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting 
kingdom,  and  all  dominions  (or  rulers)  shall 
serve  hira." 

This  dominion  was  assumed  and  estab- 
lished by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  laid 
its  foundation  in  his  finished  work  of  obedi- 
ence unto  death,  and  secured  its  ultimate 
and  certain  accomplishment  by  his  resur- 
rection from  the  dead,  his  ascension  into 
heaven,  and  his  resumption,  as  "  Head  over 
all  things  for  the  Church,"  of  that  "glory 
which  he  had  with  the  Father  from  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world."  When,  there- 
fore, after  his  resurrection,  our  Saviour 
appeared  to  the  members  of  his  kingdom, 
as  far  as  then  existing,  who  were  gath- 
ered together  by  his  special  appointment,  he 
said  unto  them:  "All  power  is  given  unto 
me  in  heaven  and  on  earth:  go  ye  therefore 
and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing 


12  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

We  repeat,  therefore,  our  declaration,  that 
every  man  who  believes  in  the  Bible,  and  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  must  also  believe  that  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  is  destined  to  be  universal. 

Everything  about  it  is  universal,  and  no- 
thing local,  national,  temporary,  or  exclu- 
sive. Christ,  its  King  and  Redeemer,  is  "  the 
Saviour  of  all  men,"  and  "the  propitiation 
for  our  sins,  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world."  As  "God 
our  Saviour,  he  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved, 
and  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth." 
He  gave  himself,  therefore,  a  ransom  for 
all  to  be  testified  in  due  time  unto  all. 

The  knowledge  of  this  Saviour,  and  of  the 
propitiation  made  by  him  for  the  sins  of  all 
in  the  world  who  believe  upon  him,  is  the 
gospel, — the  good  spell — "  the  glad  tidings 
which  shall  be  to  all  people," — "  good  will  to- 
ward men."  As  this  gospel  is  "  everlasting," 
so  it  is  universal,  and  to  be  proclaimed  "unto 
them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  13 

nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  peo- 
ple." 

The  provisions,  the  promises,  the  com- 
mands, the  obligations,  the  ordinances,  the 
sacrifices,  the  benefits,  and  blessings  of  this 
kingdom  are  equally  and  alike  for  all  men. 
It  has  no  respect  for  persons,  and  makes  no 
exceptions.  It  regards  every  man  as  a  sin- 
ner, and  guilty  before  God,  and  sweeps  with 
the  "  besom  of  destruction"  all  the  sublunary 
distinctions  and  difi'erences  among  men.  In 
the  administration  of  this  kingdom  "there  is 
neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond 
nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor  female," 
there  is  neither  high  nor  low,  rich  nor  poor, 
wise  nor  foolish,  learned  nor  ignorant,  Saxon 
nor  Celtic,  European,  Asiatic,  African,  nor 
American.  "All  are  one"  out  of  Christ, 
equally  helpless  and  hopeless;  and  "  all  are 
one  in  Christ,"  "for  all  are  the  children  of 
God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus." 

This  great  fundamental  truth,  which  levels 
all  human  distinctions  in  one  common  type 
of  sin  and  misery,  and  melts  all  human  rela- 
tionships into  one  common  brotherhood,  and 

9* 


14  BY  WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

one  common  fatherhood — God  in  Christ — is 
made  equally  certain  by  negative,  as  well  as 
by  positive,  teaching.  For  as  Christ  is  the 
Saviour  of  all  men,  so  that  whosoever  of 
the  sons  of  men  believeth  on  him  shall  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life,  so  also  is 
it  declared  from  heaven  that  "  neither  is 
there  salvation  in  any  other,  for  there  is 
none  other  name  under  heaven,  given  among 
men,"  by  which  any  man  can  be  saved. 
He,  therefore,  that  believeth  not  on  the 
Son  of  God  (be  he  who  or  what  he  may) 
shall  be  damned.  He  is  even  condemned 
already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  on 
the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  and  the  wrath 
of  God  abideth  on  him. 

But  further:  as  this  kingdom  of  Christ  is 
thus  universal  in  its  provisions  and  in  its  ad- 
ministration, so  is  it  uniform  in  the  mode  by 
which  men  secure  the  appropriation  of  its 
blessings.  Salvation  can  be  appropriated 
by  any  human  being,  only  through  the  exer- 
cise of  faith.  This  is  the  only  possible  me- 
dium by  which  that  which  is  external  to  the 
Boul,  that   which   is   spiritual,  invisible,   or 


TO    BE   CONVERTED?  15 

founded  upon  the  testimony  of  another,  can 
become  ours.  Christ  and  his  salvation  can, 
therefore,  become  the  joyful  experience  of 
any  soul  only  through  faith,  by  which, 
though  now  it  sees  not  Christ,  yet,  believ- 
ing upon  him,  it  rejoices  with  joy  unspeak- 
able, and  full  of  glory.  The  exercise  of 
faith,  in  order  to  salvation,  is  thus  made  es- 
sentially prerequisite,  not  by  any  arbitrary 
arrangement  on  the  part  of  God,  nor  by  any- 
thing peculiar  in  the  gospel,  but  by  the  very 
constitution  of  the  human  mind,  and  of  the 
world  around  it.  All  knowledge,  and  there- 
fore all  conduct, — for  this  depends  on  know- 
ledge,— and  all  the  happiness  or  misery  of 
life,  are  based  ultimately  on  the  principle  of 
faith. 

But  as  faith  results  from  the  certainty 
of  testimony  and  the  authority  and  veracity 
of  the  testator,  in  order  to  its  possible  exer- 
cise, that  testimony  and  that  authority  must 
be  present  to  the  mind.  Man,  as  a  rational 
being,  can  only  believe  when  he  has  what 
he  regards  as  sufficient  authority  for  what  is 
believed.     He  may  be  grossly  deluded  and 


16  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

deceived,  but  he  believes,  because  ignorant 
of,  or  unwilling  to  admit,  the  delusion.  For 
a  man,  therefore,  to  believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  salvation  through  him, 
and  to  have  that  peace  with  God  which  is 
the  consequence  of  such  faith,  he  must  neces- 
sarily possess  sufficient  knowledge  of  Christ 
and  of  the  salvation  he  has  accomplished. 
This  is  what  is  so  logically,  so  philosophi- 
cally, and,  at  the  same  time,  so  authorita- 
tively, taught  by  the  Apostle  Paul  (Rom.  x. 
13.)  After  stating  the  universality  of  the 
gospel,  and  that  faith  is  the  only  condition 
made  necessary  for  its  reception, — "for  who- 
soever shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved," — he  goes  on  to  ask,  "  How, 
then,  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they 
have  not  believed  ?  and  how  shall  they  be- 
lieve on  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard? 
and  how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher? 
So,  then,  faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hear- 
ing by  the  (preaching  of  the)  word  of  God." 
In  every  point  of  view,  therefore,  in  which 
they  can  be  considered,  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  and    the    gospel    of    the    kingdom, 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  17 

(whether  we  regard  them  as  founded  on  the 
decree  of  God  or  as  established  bj  Christ,) 
with  all  their  provisions,  promises,  means  of 
grace,  and  mode  of  appropriation,  are  uni- 
versal, adapted  to  man  as  man,  free  and  full 
to  all  alike,  and  offering  to  every  creature, 
in  all  the  world,  the  unspeakable  gift  of 
God's  only  begotten  Son,  so  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  him  may  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life. 

May  it  not,  then,  be  laid  down  as  a  first 
principle,  an  incontrovertible  truth,  that 
every  one  who  truly  believes  the  Bible, 
and  in  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
must  also  believe  that  his  kingdom  and  gos- 
pel are  designed  to  be  as  universal  as  the 
family  of  man  ? 

THIS  UNIVERSALITY  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  CHRIST  TO  BE 
BROUGHT  ABOUT  THROUGH  THE  INSTRUMENTALITY  OF 
MAN. 

"VVe  proceed  to  make  another  remark,  and 
that  is,  that,  as  in  accordance  with  the  will 
and  word  of  God,  the  kingdom  and  gospel  of 
Christ  are  designed  to  be  universal,  and  as 


18  BY  WHOM   IS  THE   WORLD 

all  the  resources  and  attributes  of  Deity  must 
be  considered  as  pledged  for  the  fulfilment 
of  this  purpose,  every  one  who  truly  believes 
the  Bible,  and  in  Christ  as  there  revealed, 
must  believe  that  this  universality  will  be 
brought  about  through  the  agency  of  man. 

This  is  the  only  way  by  which,  in  consist- 
ency with  man's  nature,  as  a  free,  rational, 
and  responsible  being,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  analogy  of  God's  government  in  the 
natural  world,  the  kingdom  of  Christ  can 
become  universal. 

We  might  conceive  it  possible  for  God 
miraculously  to  convey  the  gospel  of  this 
kingdom,  by  angelic  or  human  agency,  to 
every  nation,  singly  and  individually.  But 
besides  being  in  contrariety  to  the  whole 
analogy  of  the  divine  government,  such  a  me- 
thod would  be  contrary  to  the  generic,  funda- 
mental laws  of  unity,  simplicity,  and  repre- 
sentation. It  would  involve  an  unnecessary 
multiplication  of  causes  for  the  production  of 
a  desired  result,  in  contrariety  to  those  great 
laws,  by  each  of  which,  singly  and  alone,  we 
see  innumerable  results  constantly  secured. 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  19 

It  would  break  up  the  human  race  into  indi- 
viduals, in  violent  opposition  to  every  organic 
principle  of  human  nature,  and  of  the  divine 
procedure  in  all  departments  of  the  natural 
world;  and  it  would  contradict  that  principle 
of  representation  by  which  the  many  are 
bound  together  under  one  law,  one  centre  of 
influence,  one  head  or  representative.  This 
law  is  found  lying  at  the  foundation  of  all 
order,  both  in  the  natural  and  moral  gov- 
ernment of  God,  in  the  family,  the  commu- 
nity, the  state,  the  kingdom,  and  the  world 
at  large,  and  is  the  basis  of  all  association, 
intercourse,  and  business  between  different 
individuals  and  countries. 

As  this  method,  therefore,  would  involve 
the  adoption  of  supernatural,  miraculous,  and 
anomalous  agency,  where  natural  means 
might  be  employed,  the  only  plan  left  for 
the  universal  extension  of  the  gospel  and 
kingdom  of  Christ,  was  the  appointment 
of  some  one  people,  nation,  or  church,  pre- 
pared for  the  purpose  by  proper  training, 
provided  with  all  necessary  evidence,  know- 
ledge,   gifts,    and   graces,   and   under    the 


20  BY  WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

assurance  of  divine  guidance,  efficiency,  and 
success — as  witnesses,  heralds,  and  instruct- 
ors of  their  fellow-men. 

Such  a  plan  is  in  perfect  accordance  with 
the  whole  analogy  of  the  natural  world,  and 
with  all  the  laws  mentioned.  It  recognizes  the 
unity  of  the  human  race,  their  common  nature, 
their  common  origin,  apostasy,  and  ruin, 
their  participation  in  the  same  miseries  and 
forebodings  of  that  judgment  which  is  after 
death,  the  common  salvation  and  Saviour,  and 
the  one  and  only  way  in  which  any  man  can  be- 
come a  partaker  of  this  "so  great  salvation." 

This  plan  is  adapted,  therefore,  to  the 
nature  of  man,  as  well  as  to  the  principles  of 
God's  government  in  the  natural  and  moral 
world.  There  is  also  a  perfect  congruity  be- 
tween the  plan  and  the  agent  who  is  to  carry 
it  out.  Man  is  an  active  being,  and  finds  all 
his  powers  developed  by  exertion,  without 
which  he  is  unhealthy,  unhappy,  useless. 
Man  is  a  social  being,  and  can  find  full  play 
for  his  faculties,  and  perfect  enjoyment  for  his 
desires  and  affections,  only  in  companionship 
and  association  with  his  fellow  men.      Man 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  21 

is  endowed  with  the  gift  of  language  and 
■with  intelligence  to  learn  from  others,  and 
to  communicate  knowledge  to  them,  and  in 
doing  so  he  is  aided  by  the  marvellous  power 
of  the  human  voice,  with  its  accompanying 
tones,  looks,  sympathies,  and  gestures.  Man 
is  a  fearless,  enterprising  being,  fond  of  tra- 
vel and  of  change,  capable  of  endurance,  and 
nerved  by  danger  and  exploits,  and  can  thus 
roam  the  earth  in  search  of  adventure,  and 
inhabit  every  climate.  Man  was  designed, 
and  ought,  to  be  a  benevolent  being,  capa- 
ble of  love  and  pity,  generosity  and  dis- 
interested philanthropy.  He  is  sensitive 
to  calamity,  touched  with  woe,  sympathizing 
with  distress,  and  impelled  to  acts  of  charity 
and  labours  of  love,  by  the  whole  power  of 
his  affections,  and  the  commanding  authority 
of  his  conscience  requiring  this  as  his  duty. 
Happiness,  therefore,  according  to  the  very 
constitution  of  man's  nature,  is  connected 
with  activity  in  doing  good  to  others;  and  a 
man  might  just  as  reasonably  expect  to  be 
happy  in  the  solitude  of  a  desert,  or  to  be  in 
health  without  food,  as  to  be  happy  in  the  in- 
3 


22  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

dulgence  of  a  selfish  inactivity.  Millions  have 
tried  the  experiment,  but  with  the  same  result. 
In  proportion  to  their  capacity  to  do  good, 
and  their  devotion  of  that  power  to  selfish 
purposes,  they  have  destroyed  their  own  true 
felicity,  like  Swift,  one  of  the  most  selfish  as 
he  was  one  of  the  most  talented  of  men,  and 
of  whom  Archbishop  King  said  that  "he  was 
the  most  unhappy  man  on  earth."  "And 
surely  it  is  a  striking  testimony  to  the 
divine  benevolence,  that  God  so  arranged 
the  world  that  every  generous  impulse  does 
as  much  for  the  giver  as  the  receiver,  while 
a  man  is  never  so  happy  as  while  intent  on 
the  happiness  of  others."* 

Man  is  also  a  spiritual  being,  possessed  not 
only  of  bodily  powers,  and  senses,  and  appe- 
tites, but  of  mind  and  heart,  by  which  he 
comes  into  contact  with  other  minds  and 
hearts.  He  finds  that  as  face  answereth  to 
face  in  a  glass,  so  does  the  heart  of  man  to 
man,  and  that  independently  of  all  other 
means  of  communication,  men  can  enter  into 

*  See  Xote  A. 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  23 

each  other's  feelings,  rejoice  with  each  other 
when  they  rejoice,  and  weep  with  each  other 
when  they  weep;  and  that  through  the  me- 
dium of  language  spoken  and  written,  they 
can  convey  to  each  other  their  ideas,  their 
sentiments,  and  their  convictions. 

Man  is  further  a  representative  being. 
He  is  a  type  and  model  of  his  race.  In  him- 
self he  has  all  the  essential  laws  and  princi- 
ciples  of  humanity,  personal  and  yet  homo- 
geneous— individual  and  distinct,  and  not  a 
link  in  the  chain,  a  drop  in  the  ocean  of  life, 
a  ray  in  the  sunshine,  a  pulsation  of  the  com- 
mon heart.  Everything  common  to  man  is 
his,  and  nothing  strange.  Bearing  the  stamp 
of  the  same  original  and  the  same  degrada- 
tion, he  can  therefore  stand  up  among  his 
fellow-men,  and  from  the  admitted  principles 
of  a  common  experience,  tell  them  of  their 
sins  and  sorrows,  and  need  of  salvation,  by 
unfolding  to  them  his  own. 

To  all  this  we  would  add,  that  man  is  a 
religious  being,  capable  of  knowing,  loving, 
serving,  and  finding  his  supreme  and  only 
satisfying  happiness  in,  God.     As  such,  man 


24  BY  WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

cannot  but  admit  that  his  relations  to  God 
are  his  highest,  his  obligations  to  God  un- 
speakable, his  duty  to  God  paramount.  He 
must  feel  that  as  God  is  the  common  Father 
of  all  men,  all  men  are  brethren,  and  that 
as  it  is  his  first  and  great  commanded 
duty  to  love  God  with  all  his  heart,  and  soul, 
and  strength,  and  mind,  so  is  it  his  se- 
cond great  duty  to  "  love  his  neighbour  as 
himself,"  to  love  the  soul  of  his  neighbour 
even  as  he  loves  and  values  his  own  soul, 
that  is,  as  infinitely  more  important  than  any- 
thing that  is  merely  temporal,  and,  by  the 
communication  of  spiritual  knowledge,  to  im- 
part to  the  souls  of  his  fellow-men,  even  as 
he  would  desire  and  feel  it  right,  and  kind, 
and  merciful  in  others,  to  communicate  to 
him,  that  spiritual  good  on  which  depends 
everlasting  life. 

"  He  who  needeth  love,  to  love  hath  right ; 
It  is  not  like  our  furs  and  stores  of  corn, 
Whereto  we  claim  sole  title  by  our  toil. 
The  God  of  love  plants  it  within  our  hearts, 
And  waters  it,  and  gives  it  sun,  to  be 
The  common  stock  and  heritage  of  all." 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  25 

SELF-DKNIAL,  AND  LIVING  FOR  OTHERS,  A  UNIVERSAL  LAW 
AMONG  ALL  HOLY  BEINGS,  AND  RESTORED  BY  REDEMP- 
TION. 

It  has  thus  heen  shown  that  man  is  so 
constituted  as  to  be  not  only  adapted  to  the 
work  of  extending  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
but  to  be  incapable  of  the  full  development 
of  his  nature  and  the  full  measure  of  his 
happiness,  except  in  active  exertion  and  self- 
denying  charity,  and  prayer,  and  interest  in 
this  glorious  end  and  aim  of  life.  It  was, 
therefore,  necessary  for  the  happiness  and  the 
moral  elevation  of  man,  that  the  fulfilment 
of  this  great  purpose  of  God  should  be 
entrusted  to  his  agency  as  a  "steward  of 
the  manifold  mercies  of  God,"  that  in  doing 
good  to  others  he  might  himself  be  blessed,  and 
find  by  experience  that  "  it  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive."  Man's  chief  end 
was  that  he  might  glorify  and  enjoy  God. 
To  enjoy  God,  however,  he  must  glorify  him. 
His  will  must  be  conformed  to  God's  will,  his 
life  to  God's  law,  his  aim  to  God's  purpose, 
and  his  whole  heart  to  God's  service.  This 
was  the  spirit  of  Christ  as  our  incarnate 
3* 


20  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

exemplar,  and  filled  his  heart  with  joy,  so 
that  he  counted  it  even  as  his  meat  and 
drink  to  do  the  will  of  God.  This  is  the 
spirit  of  angels,  and  makes  angels  what  they 
are — holy  and  happy.  This  is  the  spirit  of 
heaven,  and  fills  heaven  with  satisfying  bless- 
edness. This,  too,  was  the  spirit  of  primeval 
man,  while  as  yet  he  was  unacquainted  with 
grief,  and  untainted  with  sin. 

Indeed,  this  spirit  animites  all  the  works 
of  God.  "For  others  and  not  for  myself," 
is  the  life  of  all  that  lives,  the  growth  of  all 
that  grows,  the  existence  of  all  that  exists. 
It  is  the  utterance  alike  of  animate  and  inan- 
imate nature.  In  the  light  that  enlivens  us, 
the  air  that  sustains  us,  the  water  that  puri- 
fies us,  the  earth  that  nourishes  us — in  the 
deep  mines  that  warm,  and  enrich,  and  gar- 
nish our  persons  and  our  habitations — in  all 
the  beauty,  the  grandeur,  and  the  sublimity 
of  nature — in  every  flower  that  blooms  and 
sheds  its  fragrance — in  every  tree  that 
spreads  its  branches  so  as  to  delight  the 
eye,  and  ripens  its  fruit  so  as  to  gratify  the 
taste — in  every  shower  that  waters  the  earth, 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  27 

and  every  dew-drop  that  glistens  in  the 
morning  ray — everywhere,  and  in  every  thing, 
"we  find  written,  "not  for  myself  but  for  oth- 
ers." Most  surely,  then,  will  this  be  true 
of  man  who  was  made  in  God's  image,  but 
a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  God's  exemp- 
lar, representative,  and  almoner  upon  earth. 
"No  man  liveth  unto  himself"  is  the  law 
impressed  upon  his  nature,  the  condition  of 
his  being,  the  prerequisite  of  his  well-being, 
the  inflexible  rule  and  measure  of  his  worth, 
and  the  inexorable  awarder  of  his  propor- 
tionate recompense  in  present  enjoyment  and 
ever-abiding  happiness. 

A  man,  therefore,  who  lives  to  himself, 
is  an  anomaly  in  the  universe.  He  is  the 
only  being  and  the  only  thing,  in  all  the  cre- 
ation of  God,  that  so  exists.  He  is  a  moral 
monster,  ugly,  misshapen,  deformed,  without 
natural  affection,  an  abomination  in  the  sight 
of  God  and  of  all  holy  beings — "earthly, 
sensual,  devilish."  Yes,  selfishness  is  the 
law  of  Satan,  not  of  God ;  of  human  corrup- 
tion, not  of  human  nature  ;  of  man  fallen, 
not   of  man  upright.     It  is  sin,  and  guilt, 


?8  BY  AVHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

and  misery.  It  is  the  black  and  damning 
proof  of  man's  rebellion  against  God,  and 
subj^tion  to  the  Evil  One.  It  undermines 
man's  nature,  God's  law,  earth's  happiness, 
heaven's  holiness,  the  very  throne  and  majes- 
ty of  God.  It  has  driven  out  legions  of 
apostate  angels  from  heaven,  peopled  earth 
with  criminals,  and  hordes  of  beings  more 
reckless  and  ruthless  than  the  beasts  of  the 
forest ;  prepared  hell  for  the  devil,  his  an- 
gels, and  ungodly  men ;  and  filled  every 
breeze  that  blows  with  the  sounds  of  weep- 
ing, and  wailing,  and  bitter  lamentations. 

In  the  plan  of  redemption  we  may  be  very 
sure,  therefore,  that — as  it  is  designed  to 
remedy  man's  great  calamity,  renovate  his 
corrupt  nature,  and  reinstate  him  in  holiness 
and  happiness  in  the  service,  glory,  and  en- 
joyment of  God — man  will  become  the  instru- 
ment, in  God's  hand — made  effective  by  God's 
working  in  him  and  with  him — of  proclaim- 
ing peace  and  good-will  to  men,  the  domin- 
ion of  love,  the  reign  of  charity,  and  the 
universal  brotherhood  of  the  human  family. 
Man  will  himself  be  made,  by  the  power  of 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  29 

God  through  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  the  pat- 
tern of  renovated  and  redeemed  humanity. 
Exorcised  from  the  spirit  of  selfishness,  and 
possessed  of  the  spirit  of  love — love  to  God, 
love  to  Christ,  and  love  to  the  souls  of  men, 
he  is  "compelled"  to  go  forth  among  his 
fellows,  proclaim  to  them  "  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ,"  tell  them  what  God  has 
done  for  his  own  soul,  and  as  "the  Spirit 
and  the  bride  say,  Come,"  to  say  "who- 
soever will  may  come,  and  take  of  the 
water  of  life  freely."  Man's  individual  good 
is  thus  promoted  while  securing  the  good  of 
others.  "Self-denial  is  made  the  cure  of 
selfishness."  Living  for  others  invigorates 
and  establishes  the  true  life  of  man,  and 
serving  Christ,  following  him,  enduring  the 
cross,  and  counting  all  things  but  loss  for 
the  honour  of  his  name  and  the  advancement 
of  his  kingdom,  fills  the  heart  with  peace 
and  joy,  and  enables  it  to  rejoice  in  hope  of 
the  glory  of  God. 

"This  holy  work,  this  heavenly  task, 
Will  furnish  all  we  ought  to  ask ; 
Room  to  deny  ourselves,  a  road 
To  bring  us  daily  nearer  God." 


30  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

THIS  PRIXCIPLE  OF  LOVE,  AND  LIVING  FOR  OTHERS,  ILLUS- 
TRIOUSLY  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  GOD,  AND  IN  CHRIST  OUR 
SAVIOUR. 

Such,  assuredly,  is  the  nature  and  design 
of  the  gospel  in  its  operation  upon  the  heart 
of  every  individual  believer  of  it.  Salvation 
is  so  imparted  as  to  create  in  every  recipient 
the  desire  to  impart  salvation  to  others,  and 
a  spirit  of  self-denying  charity,  liberality, 
and  effort  to  extend  the  gospel  and  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  according  to  his  ability,  to 
every  creature. 

"The  blessed  God,"  whose  "glorious  gos- 
pel" it  is,  liveth  not  for  himself.  He  is  the 
parent  of  all  good,  "the  Father  of  lights,^ 
from  whom  cometh  down  every  good  and  per- 
fect gift."  Ages  before  the  creation  of  man 
he  established  the  foundations  of  his  future 
habitation,  laid  up  in  store-houses,  all  ready 
and  prepared  for  his  use,  everything  that 
was  necessary  for  his  future  comfort,  and 
beautified  and  adorned  it  with  all  that  is 
rich,  varied,  and  delightful  to  the  most 
refined  taste.  And  when  man  had  plunged 
himself  into  the  abyss  of  misery,  God,  who, 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  31 

had  hitherto  worked  for  his  temporal  com- 
fort, "so  loved  him  as  to  give  his  only  be- 
gotten Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.'* 
God  has  thus  made  himself  known  in  the 
gospel  as  LOVE,  that  we  may  learn  that  love 
is  the  spirit  by  which  he  "brings  us  back 
unto  God;"  that  "love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law;"  that  in  loving  him  we  will  love  also 
our  fellow-men ;  and  that  if  we  are  not  actu- 
ated by  a  spirit  of  charity  and  benevolent 
exertion  for  them,  the  love  of  God  cannot 
dwell  in  our  hearts. 

Christ  as  the  author  and  finisher  of  our 
faith,  the  subject  and  the  spirit  of  the  gospel, 
its  altar-sacrifice  and  priest,  its  foundation, 
superstructure,  and  security,  its  life  and 
power — Christ  liveth  not  for  himself.  "He 
loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us."  He 
gave  up  the  glory  "which  he  had  with  the 
Father  from  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,"  that  he  might  come  down  to  earth  to 
"seek  and  to  save  those  who  were  lost."  He 
entered  into  our  nature,  assumed  our  earthly 
relations,  trials  and  toils,  endured  our  griefs 


32  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

and  carried  our  sorrows,  and  was  in  all 
points  tempted  even  as  we  are,  that  in  this 
body  of  flesh,  in  this  earthly  life,  and  in  this 
world  of  duty  and  of  danger,  he  might  set 
us  an  example,  and  induce  us  to  walk  in  his 
steps.  In  a  representative  world,  under  a 
system  of  universal  representation,  in  a  na- 
ture eminently  and  in  every  way  representa- 
tive and  represented,  he  became  the  repre- 
sentative of  humanity,  "the  second  Adam," 
that  "  as  in  Adam  all  died,  so  in  Christ  all," 
who  become  related  to  him  by  faith,  "may 
be  made  alive."  He  did  not  his  own  will,  but 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  him.  He  pleas- 
ed not  himself.  He  went  about  his  Fa- 
ther's business.  "  He  went  about  doing 
good,"  bearing  reproach,  receiving  evil  for 
his  good  done,  malevolence  for  his  kindest 
actions,  and  persecution,  even  unto  blood, 
for  his  God-like  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  humanity.  Self-denial  was  the  spirit  of 
his  life,  self-sacrifice  the  character  of  all  his 
actions,  and  love — living  not  unto  himself, 
but  for  others,  for  strangers  and  even  ene- 


TO    BE    CONVERTED?  33 

mies — the  very  element  in  which   he  lived, 
and  moved,  and  had  his  being. 

CHRISTIANITY    THE    EMBODIMENT,    AND    CHRISTIANS    THE    HV- 
ING    MODELS,   OF   THIS    SPIRIT   OF  SELF-DENYING    LOVE. 

Now,  what  Christ  was,  Christianity  is,  and 
Christians  are  to  be.  Christianity  is  the 
religion  of  Christ ;  the  worship  and  service 
of  Christ ;  union  to  Christ  by  faith,  which  is 
his  own  gift  and  the  fruit  of  his  Spirit ; 
love  and  devotion  to  Christ ;  living  not  unto 
ourselves  but  unto  him  who  redeemed  us 
with  his  own  precious  blood,  that  we  might 
be  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works. 
To  be  a  Christian,  is  to  live  by  the  faith  of 
the  Son  of  God ;  to  live  with  him,  to  live  as 
Christ  lived,  to  do  as  Christ  did,  and  to  have 
the  Spirit  of  Christ.  If  Christ  is  the  vine, 
every  Christian  is  a  branch,  nourished  with 
his  sap,  growing  by  his  life,  blooming  with 
his  fragrance,  and  bearing  fruit  ''  for  the 
healing  of  the  nations."  If  Christ  is  a 
head,  every  Christian  is  a  member,  acting  in 
unison  with  that  head  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  its  purposes  of  grace  and  mercy. 
4 


84  BY  WHOM   IS  THE   WORLD 

Christ  is  the  divine  sculptor.  From  him 
sprang  the  glorious  ideal  of  regenerated 
man.  He  himself  became  the  mould  and 
type  of  man  "upright,"  man  "holy,  harm- 
less and  undefiled  ;"  knowing  no  sin,  neither 
having  guile  in  his  heart ;  living  among  them, 
and  yet  "separate  from  sinners;"  in  it,  and 
yet  not  of,  the  world,  and  unspotted  by  it ; 
diligent  in  business,  and  yet  fervent  ia 
spirit,  serving  God,  and  having  his  affec- 
tions set  on  things  that  are  above.  And  as 
the  sculptor  hands  over  his  model  to  his 
workmen,  that  they  may  imitate  and  repro- 
duce its  likeness,  guiding  them  by  his  eye 
and  correcting  them  by  his  skill,  so  does 
Christ  give  into  the  hands  of  his  disciples 
his  divine  model,  that  under  his  eye,  and 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  working  in  and 
with  them  in  quickening  and  transforming 
energy,  they  may  be  his  instruments  in  fash- 
ioning other  hearts,  and  making  them  "new 
creatures  in  Christ  Jesus."  As  we  have 
borne  the  image,  and  the  spirit,  and  the 
selfish  life  of  the  earthly  Adam,  we  must 
also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly.     The 


TO  BE   CONVERTED?  35 

form,  the  features,  the  benevolent  expres- 
sion, the  tones  of  melting  tenderness,  the 
words  of  love  and  power,  the  life  of  good- 
ness, the  doing  good  to  all  men,  will  all  be 
transferred  to  "the  living  epistle  seen  and 
read  of  all  men,"  written  not  on  tables 
of  stone,  but  on  the  fleshy  table  of  the 
heart  of  every  one  who  is  chosen  of  God, 
and  changed  into  the  image  of  Christ. 

The  universal  law  of  Christ  is,  "if  any 
man  will  come  after  me,"  that  is,  come  out 
from  the  world  and  be  separated  from  it, 
renouncing  its  dominion  and  authority,  and 
becoming  subject  unto  Christ,  "  he  must 
deny  himself."  He  must  renounce  all  claim 
to  be  his  own  property  and  his  own  master. 
He  must  make  the  will  of  Christ,  and  not 
his  own  will,  the  authority  and  obligation  of 
his  actions.  He  must  make  the  word  of 
Christ,  and  not  his  own  opinions  or  the 
opinions  of  others,  the  rule  and  measure  of 
duty.  He  must  make  love  to  Christ,  and 
not  love  of  self,  the  motive  of  all  his  actions, 
and  he  must  make  the  cause  of  Christ,  and 
the  kingdom   of  Christ,   and  the   glory    of 


86  BY  WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

Christ  in  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  not 
money-making,  or  money-hoarding,  or  mo- 
ney-spending, the  end  and  object  of  his  life. 
To  human  nature  as  it  is,  this  is  a  heavy 
cross,  but  it  must  be  borne  ;  a  mortifica- 
tion of  the  body,  but  it  must  be  suffered ; 
and  a  crucifixion  to  the  world,  but  it  must 
be  offered  up.  Transformed  by  this  re- 
newing of  his  mind,  and  receiving  power 
and  grace  from  Christ,  the  believer  follows 
him,  through  evil  and  through  good  report, 
in  doing  good  and  abstaining  from  evil, 
"  willing  to  communicate,  ready  to  distri- 
bute, and  zealous  in  all  good  works." 

The  Christian  is  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ,  "sworn  liegeman  of  the  cross  and 
thorny  crown."  Christ  is  now  the  com- 
mander and  leader  of  his  soul,  "  the  cap- 
tain of  his  salvation."  "The  field  is  the 
world."  The  banner  given  him  to  unfurl 
in  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness,  is 
the  banner  of  salvation,  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God.  This  word  of  life  he  is  to 
hold  forth.  Under  this  he  is  to  march. 
After  this  he  is  to  follow.     For  this  he  is  to 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  37 

fight  manfully  the  good  fight  of  faith. 
Around  this  he  is  to  press.  To  this  he  is  to 
cling  in  every  fiery  assault  of  the  adversary. 
And  to  plant  this  on  every  fortress  of  the 
enemy,  and  see  its  white  pennons  floating  in 
the  winds  of  heaven,  and  carrying  with  it 
the  assurance  of  victory  and  of  peace,  and 
good  will  to  the  vanquished  ;  this,  0  this,  is 
the  exultant  joy  of  every  loyal  heart,  as  he 
shouts  glory  to  his  divine  and  exalted  Sa- 
viour. 

Ye  who  your  Lord's  commission  bear 

His  way  of  mercy  to  prepare — 

Augels  he  calls  ye — be  your  strife 

To  lead  on  earth  an  angel's  life. 

Think  not  of  rest,  though  dreams  be  sweet, 

Start  up  and  ply  your  heavenward  feet. 

Is  not  God's  oath  upon  your  head, 

Ne'er  to  sink  back  on  slothful  bed; 

Never  again  your  loins  untie, 

Nor  let  your  torches  waste  and  die, 

Till  when  the  shadows  thickest  fall 

Ye  hear  your  Master's  midnight  call  ? 

As  the  gospel  knows  no  distinction,  and 

Christ's  kingdom  no  limit  of  time  or   place, 

or  people  or  country,  so  is  it  with  the  Chris- 
4* 


38  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

tian.  To  him  there  are  no  Home  and  Foreign 
Missions  in  'princiiAe,  though  for  convenience 
and  division  of  labour,  as  in  the  science  of 
the  several  kingdoms  of  God's  one  universal 
dominion,  he  may  admit  the  distinction.  But 
in  Christ  there  is  no  difference,  except  that  of 
destitution,  ignorance,  barbarity,  and  rela- 
tive precedence  in  their  bearing  upon  the 
universal,  ultimate  result.  All  such  distinc- 
tions are  founded  in  selfishness  and  not  in 
love,  in  temporary  and  not  permanent  re- 
lations, in  physical  and  not  in  spirituarl  equa- 
lities. They  are  not  of  the  Father,  but  of  the 
world,  founded  in  man's  present  weaknesses 
and  wants,  and  terminating  with  his  present 
sublunary  condition.  They  indicate  to  man 
i\\Q  order  but  not  the  ZmiYs  of  duty  ;- where, 
he  is  to  begin  and  how  he  is  to  proceed,  but 
not  the  boundary  within  which  his  love,  and 
charity,  and  labour  are  to  be  circumscribed. 
Piety  must  begin  in  the  individual  heart. 
"We  must  learn  to  shovr  piety  first  at  home,  in 
the  family,  then  in  the  church,  and  the  commu- 
nity. But  it  will  not,  cannot  stop  there.  If 
it  does,  it  is  selfishness  under  the  garb   of 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  39 

religion.  It  is  carnal  and  worldly — the  good 
olive  branch  grafted  on  the  stem  of  the  origi- 
nal wild  olive  tree  of  the  natural  heart. 
Such  a  man  loves  his  own,  and  in  so  doing 
what  does  he  more  than  others?  Do  not  even 
infidels  and  Christless  men  the  same  ?  If  he 
did  not  do  this  much,  would  he  not  be  "  worse 
than  an  infidel?"  and  in  merely  doing  this, 
therefore,  he  can  be  no  better.  This,  when 
made  a  substitute  for  Christian  piety,  is 
hypocrisy. 

"  The  gospel  is  the  expression  of  God's 
love,  and  the  believer  is  a  man,  who,  filled 
with  heaven's  emanating  kindness,  becomes 
in  his  turn  a  living  gospel.  There  is  an 
ecclesiastical  Christianity,  and  there  is  a 
dogmatic  Christianity.  The  former  regards 
it  as  the  main  thing  to  belong  to  a  particular 
church ;  the  latter  lays  all  the  stress  on 
maintaining  certain  doctrines.  But  the 
Christian  of  the  Bible,  while  he  is  all  this,  is 
also  a  great  deal  more.  By  believing  what 
God  reveals,  he  becomes  what  God  desires — 
a  holy,  devout,  beneficent  presence  in  socie- 
ty; a  sick  world's  healer;  a  sad  world's  com 


40  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

forter;  a  sympathizer  and  a  fellow-worker 
with  the  Supreme  Beneficence."  Remem- 
bering 

"That,  throned  above  all  height,  He  condescends 
To  call  the  few  who  trust  in  him  his  friends; 
That,  in  the  Heaven  of  heavens,  its  space  he  deems 
Too  scanty  for  the  exertion  of  his  beams, 
And  shines,  as  if  impatient  to  bestow 
Life  and  a  kingdom  upon  worms  below ; 
Like  him  the  soul,  thus  kindled  from  above, 
Spreads  wide  her  arms  of  universal  love ; 
And,  still  enlarged  as  she  receives  the  grace, 
Includes  creation  in  her  close  embrace." 

In  other  words,  important  as  are  sound- 
ness in  the  faith  and  steadfastness  of  principle, 
these  are  but  the  roots  and  stem  from  which 
spring  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gen- 
tleness, goodness;  and  it  is  hardly  uncha- 
ritable to  doubt  whether  that  man's  piety  be 
true  who  does  not  visit  the  fatherless  and 
afflicted,  as  well  as  keep  himself  unspotted 
from  the  world.  True  piety  is  the  life  of 
God  in  the  soul.  It  is  a  transfusion  into 
the  disciple  of  the  mind  of  the  Master.  It  is 
a  ray  of  the  divine  gladness  kindling  the 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  41 

human  heart,  converting  it  into  a  living 
sacrifice,  and  filling  all  its  circle  with  such  a 
fragrance,  glow,  and  brightness,  as  can  only 
be  created  by  fire  from  heaven. 

The  roots  and  stem,  therefore,  without 
the  fruits,  are  but  the  assumption  of  the  name 
of  Christian,  without  the  spirit  which  animates 
and  characterizes  it.  It  is  "  faith  without 
works,  which  is  dead."  It  is  the  spirit  of 
the  flesh,  saying  like  Cain,  "Am  I  my  bro- 
ther's keeper?"  It  is  the  spirit  of  the  self- 
righteous  Pharisee,  asking,  "Who  then  is 
my  neighbour?"  and  passing  him  by  on  the 
other  side  as  you  carry  home  your  good 
things  to  your  family  and  kindred.  True 
piety  is  light  set  on  a  hill,  unobstructed  by 
any  barrier,  and  shedding  its  rays  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach.  It  is  leaven  which,  while  it 
must  be  cast  in  at  some  particular  spot,  and 
diffuse  itself  from  it  as  from  a  centre,  never 
rests  until  it  has  leavened  the  whole  mass. 
And  thus,  also,  is  it  compared  to  salt,  which 
if  it  loses  its  power  of  savouring  any  portion 
of  the  fluid,  is  good  for  nothing. 


42  BY   WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

SELFISH    PIETY    NOT   ONLY    NOT    CHRISTIAN,    BUT   ANTLCHRIS- 
TIAN. 

Piety  restricted  to  self,  or  family,  or  kin- 
dred, or  church,  or  country,  is  not  therefore 
Christianity.  It  contradicts  the  gospel,  in 
its  provisions,  promises,  commands,  ordinan- 
ces, obligations,  and  blessings.  It  is  not  the 
spirit  of  Christ.  He  knew  not  even  his  own 
mother,  according  to  the  flesh,  when  about 
his  Father's  business,  and  has  declared, 
that  whosoever  doeth  his  will,  is  his  mo- 
ther, and  sister,  and  brother.  While  his 
body  was  in  Judea,  his  heart,  his  prayers, 
his  prospective  blessings  were  everywhere, 
and  with  all  who  should  hereafter  believe  on 
him,  to  the  end  of  the  world.  While  in 
order  to  "fulfil  all  righteousness"  and  all 
prophecy,  he  personally  went  no  farther  than 
Judea,  and  required  his  disciples  to  begin  at 
Jerusalem,  and  there  await  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit,  he  commanded  them  not  to 
tarry  there,  but  to  go  far  thence  among  the 
Gentiles,  preaching  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ  to  every  creature.  For  thus  it  is 
written,  and  thus  "it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer. 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  43 

and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day,  and 
that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should 
be  preached  in  his  name  among  all  nations, 
beginning  at  Jerusalem."  Christ  loved  men 
as  men,  as  *' enemies,"  as  "ungodly,"  as 
*'  without  strength,"  "without  God  and  with- 
out hope."  To  have  the  spirit  and  the  love 
of  Christ  is,  therefore,  to  love  the  souls  of 
perishing  men,  and  to  the  utmost  of  our 
ability  and  opportunity,  to  save  them  from 
death.  This  only  is  "the  love  of  the  spi- 
BIT,"  with  which  Christ  imbues  every  believ- 
ing heart,  renewing  them  in  the  temper  of 
their  minds  and  enlarging  their  desires  and 
efforts  so  as  to  comprehend  the  wants  and 
woes  of  a  perishing  world. 

0  thou,  who  keep'st  the  key  of  love 

Open  thy  fount,  eternal  Dove, 
And  overflow  this  heart  of  mine, 

Enlarging  as  it  fills  with  thee,  / 

Till  in  one  blaze  of  charity, 
Self  and  its  will  are  lost,  like  motes,  in  light  divine. 

But  not  only  is  such  piety  not  -Christian 
— it  is  anti-christian.  Is  Christ  divided  ?  Is 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  divided  against  itself, 


44  BY   WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

or  partitioned  out  into  national,  sectional, 
and  family  compartments?  Can  I  circum- 
scribe Christ  in  his  claims,  blessings,  and 
requirements,  by  me  and  mine,  by  white  or 
black,  north  or  south,  bond  or  free,  home  or 
foreign?  Nay,  if  I  do,  I  am  none  of  his. 
For  if  any  man  love  father  or  mother,  or 
family  or  kindred,  or  country,  more  than 
Christ ;  if  he  do  not  hate  them  all  for 
Christ's  sake  and  the  gospel's,  that  is,  hold 
them  in  subordination  to  the  higher  and 
paramount  claims  of  both,  he  is  none  of 
Christ's.  He  cannot  be  Christ's  disciple. 
Christ  never  knew  him.  He  is  not  with 
Christ,  but  against  him.  He  is  a  rebel,  a 
traitor,  an  unfaithful  steward,  a  disobedient 
son,  a  wicked  and  slothful  servant,  hiding 
his  lord's  talent  in  a  napkin,  or  burying  it 
"like  a  crock  of  gold  in  a  coffin." 

Christ  did  not  leave  this  matter  to  mere 
precept  and  example.  He  has  made  it  im- 
possible for  any  man  who  is  not  wilfully 
blind,  to  believe  a  lie  so  palpable,  and  a 
delusion  so  gross,  as  that  a  piety  whose 
spirit,  principle,  prayers,  sacrifices,   and  ef- 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  45 

forts,  are  limited  by  home,  or  church,  or 
country,  is  Christianity.  He  has  done  this 
by  identifying  himself  with  a  perishing  world, 
and  with  the  poor  and  miserable,  and  blind 
and  naked,  and  outcast,  wherever  and  who- 
soever, they  be.  Like  as  a  father  is  repre- 
sented by  every  member  of  his  family,  and 
a  prince  by  every  one  of  his  subjects,  and 
a  government,  whether  municipal,  state,  or 
national,  by  every  one  of  its  citizens,  so  that 
what  is  done  for  the  one  is  done  for  the 
other,  and  what  is  done  against  the  one  is 
regarded,  and  resented,  as  done  against  the 
other;  so  it  is  with  Christ  as  he  stands 
related  to  all  those  who  are  "  perishing  for 
lack  of  knowledge."  The  heathen  are  his 
inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  his  possession.  In  them  we  see  him. 
By  them  is  he  represented,  and  brought 
within  the  reach  of  our  neglect  or  kindness. 
And  according  as  we  do  unto  them,  we  do 
likewise  unto  him. 

We  liave  our  younger  brothers,  too, 

The  poor,  the  outcast,  and  the  trodden  down, 

Left  fatherless  on  earth  to  pine  for  bread ! 

5 


46  BY  WHOM   IS  THE   WORLD 

They  are  a  hungered  for  our  love  and  care ; 
It  is  their  spirits  that  are  famishing, 
And  our  dear  Father,  in  his  testament, 
Bequeathed  them  to  us  as  our  dearest  trust. 
Wherefore  we  shall  give  up  a  strait  account. 
Woe  if  we  have  forgotten  them,  and  left 
Those  souls  that  might  have  grown  in  fear  and  love — 
Left  them  to  feel  their  birthright  but  a  curse. 

But  as  Christ  is  represented  in  the  mute 
objects  of  charity  and  compassion,  so  is  he 
also  in  the  agents  of  his  bounty,  to  whom 
he  has  imparted  gifts,  graces,  and  the  gold 
and  silver  which  are  the  Lord's.  In  the 
one  Christ  represents  himself  passively;  in 
the  other,  he  is  represented  actively.  In 
the  one  he  is  the  object  and  the  recipient  of 
charity ;  in  the  other,  the  agent  and  the 
donor.  In  the  one  class  of  representatives 
we  see  his  resources,  his  power,  his  munificent 
benevolence,  his  free,  sovereign,  and  disin- 
terested compassion.  In  the  other  class  we 
behold — as  John  did  in  the  earthly  mother, 
to  whom  Christ  directed  him  while  on  the 
cross,  saying,  *' Behold  thy  mother" — the 
deep  misery  of  humanity,  its  need  of  salva- 
tion and  a  Saviour,  its  utter  hopelessness,  its 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  47 

inability  and  indisposition  even  to  its  own 
spiritual  good,  and  the  absolute  necessity 
that,  in  order  to  be  saved,  man  must  be 
drawn  with  the  cords  of  a  man,  melted  by 
kindness,  unprejudiced  by  love,  and  thus 
made  willing  to  come  to  Jesus.  In  every 
Christian,  the  world  sees  —  expects,  and 
ought  to  see — one  who  exhibits  the  traits 
and  temper  of  Christ — who  feels  that  he  is 
in  Christ's  stead — who  acts  as  he  thinks 
Christ  would  have  acted  if  in  his  circum- 
stances— and  who  does  unto  others  what  he 
believes  Christ  would  have  rendered  unto 
them,  and  not  what  is  dictated  by  his  own 
self-interest.  In  all  the  trying  conditions 
of  humanity  Christ  lived.  He  knows  well 
what  they  are,  and  what  they  imply,  for  he 
has  felt  the  same,  "though  without  sin."  He 
is  able  to  sympathize  both  with  the  sufferer, 
and  with  the  agents  of  his  intended  bounty. 
He  knows  the  individual,  personal  worthless- 
ness  of  the  one, — so  far  as  any  claim  of 
merit  or  desert  can  reach, — and  his  unrequi- 
ting  and  ungrateful  spirit.  And  he  knows 
the  unselfish,  disinterested  labour   of   love 


48  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

required  on  the  part  of  his  servants.  On 
this  very  account,  however,  does  Christ 
regard  that  labour  as  love  to  himself,  and 
lay  up  for  it  a  grateful  recompense  in  the 
world  to  come, 

For  'mid  tlie  throng  of  selfish  hearts  untrue, 
His  glad  eye  rests  upon  his  faithful  few. 

This  is  no  figurative  representation.  It  is 
a  plain  and  unquestionable  verity,  in  con- 
formity to  all  human  principles  of  equity 
and  of  action,  and  the  proclaimed  rule,  not 
only  for  testing  the  sincerity  of  our  present 
faith,  and  hope,  and  love,  and  charity,  but 
for  that  judgment  in  the  court  of  heaven 
by  which  the  future  destiny  of  every  man 
will  be  determined.  (Matt,  xxv.)  No  man, 
therefore,  can  have  any  difficulty  in  under- 
standing what  is  the  will  of  Christ,  the  spirit 
of  Christ,  and  the  command  of  Christ,  since 
he  has  identified  himself  with  his  kingdom, 
and  made  our  faith,  and  love,  and  obedience 
co-extensive  with  the  gospel — that  is,  with 
the  entire  brotherhood  of  humanity. 

Ah!  wherefore  persecute  ye  me, 
'  Tis  hard,  ye  so  in  love  should  be 
With  your  own  endless  woe. 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  49 

Know,  though  at  God's  right  hand  I  live, 
I  feel  each  -wound  ye  reckless  give 
To  the  least  soul  below. 

I  in  your  care  these  souls  have  left, 
Not  willing  ye  should  be  bereft 

Of  waiting  on  your  Lord. 
The  meanest  offering  ye  can  make — 
A  drop  of  water  for  love's  sake, 

In  heaven,  be  sure,  is  stored. 

Still  as  we  walk  our  earthly  round. 
Still  may  the  echo  of  that  sound 
Be  in  our  memory  stored: 
Christians!  behold  your  happy  state, 
Christ  is  in  these,  who  round  you  wait ; 
Make  much  of  your  dear  Lord. 

The  conclusion,  therefore,  is  irresistibly 
plain,  that  every  man  who  believes  the 
Bible  and  in  Christ,  must  believe  and  feel 
that  it  is  his  first  and  paramount  duty,  as  a 
Christian,  to  identify  himself  with  Christ 
and  his  kingdom,  and  to  live  so  as  by  his  in- 
strumentality to  extend  that  kingdom,  as  far 
as  his  means  and  opportunity  will  enable 
him.  Faith  in  Christ  will  shed  abroad  in  his 
soul  love  to  Christ,  and  this  will  constrain 
him  to  live  so  as  to  please,  and  honour,  and 
6* 


50  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

glorify  Christ,  by  obeying  his  command- 
ments, imitating  his  example,  and  labouring 
for  the  salvation  of  a  world  lying  in  wicked- 
ness. 

Wouldst  tliou  the  life  of  souls  discern  ? 

Nor  human  wisdom,  nor  divine, 
Helps  thee  by  aught  besides  to  learn; 

Love  is  life's  only  sign. 

The  spring  of  the  regenerate  heart, 
The  pulse,  the  glow,  of  every  part. 
Is  the  true  love  of  Christ  our  Lord, 
As  man  embraced,  as  God  adored. 

The  heart  which  loves  the  Lord  aright, 
No  soul  of  man  can  worthless  find. 

All  will  be  precious  in  his  sight, 
Since  Christian  all  hath  shined. 

THE    EXTENSION    OF     GOD's    KINGDOM    HAS    ALWAYS    BEEN     A 
TRUST   FOR    WHICH    MAN    HAS    BEEN   RESPONSIBLE. 

Such  is  God's  instrumentality  for  the 
universal  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  and  the  universal  diffusion  of  the 
knowledge  of  salvation.  Men  are  put  in 
trust,  and  made  responsible  for  this  work, 
and  to  them  will  pertain  the  glory  or  the 
shame,  the  honour  or  disgrace,  the  victory  or 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  51 

defeat,  the  recompense  or  retribution,  since 
in  God's  stead  they  are  made  ambassadors 
and  witnesses,  and  co-workers  with  him. 

Such  has  ever  been  God's  plan.  Salva- 
tion for  the  world,  through  the  knowledge 
and  belief  of  the  good  news  of  a  divine  in- 
carnate Saviour,  has  been  the  trust  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  Church,  that  is,  of  the 
people  of  God,  from  the  very  beginning  of 
the  world.  The  fulfilment  of  this  trust  was 
made  man's  great  work  and  business  upon 
earth.  For  this  was  a  dispensation  of  good- 
ness and  mercy  vouchsafed  to  him,  through 
the  mediation  of  Christ,  and  the  long-suffer- 
ing forbearance  of  God.  He  pursues  other 
work,  and  eats,  drinks,  marries,  and  is  given 
in  marriage,  that  he  may  live;  but  he  lives 
that  he  may  work  out  his  own  salvation  and 
the  salvation  of  others,  and  thus  honour, 
obey,  and  enjoy  God.  To  this  work  is  man 
consecrated  and  life  devoted.  The  "seed  of 
the  woman,"  from  the  beginning,  recognized 
and  received  this  trust.  The  echoes  of  their 
loud  and  earnest  warnings  and  appeals  to 
the  unbelieving  world  around  them,  come  to 


52  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

US  through  distant  ages,  and  over  the  waters 
of  the  flood,  crying,  "Behold  the  Lord  Com- 
eth with  ten  thousand  of  his  saints,  to  execute 
judgment  upon  all,  and  to  convince  all  that 
are  ungodly  among  them,  of  all  their  un- 
godly deeds  which  they  have  ungodly  com- 
mitted, and  of  all  their  hard  speeches  which 
ungodly  sinners  have  spoken  against  him." 
And  when  God's  people  waxed  faint-hearted 
and  worldly,  and  that  voice  died  away  amid 
the  sounds  of  merriment  and  the  hum  of 
business,  the  flood  came  and  swept  an  un- 
faithful and  unbelieving  generation  from  the 
earth. 

The  gospel  for  the  world  was  then  put  in 
trust  with  Noah  and  his  seed,  and  afterwards 
with  Abraham  and  his  seed,  in  whom  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  were  to  be  blest; 
and  then  a  single  nation  was  chosen,  edu- 
cated, corrected,  and  purified  in  the  fires  of 
persecution  from  idolatrous  tendencies,  that 
they  might  be  God's  faithful  witnesses  in  the 
earth.  And  as  the  descendants  of  Noah 
and  Abraham  were  dispersed  abroad  over 
the  earth  that  they  might  carry  with  them, 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  53 

and  sow,  the  incorruptible  seed  of  divine 
truth  to  take  root  and  flourish  in  all  lands, 
so  also  when  the  Jews  failed  to  execute  their 
mission,  they  were  peeled  and  scattered,  and 
thus  constrained  to  bear  the  Scriptures  and 
the  knowledge  of  a  Saviour  into  the  most  dis- 
tant climes.  So  long,  and  so  far,  as  they 
were  faithful  stewards  and  evangelists,  they 
prospered,  and  entered  most  prominently 
into  the  history  of  the  world.  But  when 
selfishness  and  self-seeking  pride  became 
their  ruling  principle,  and  they  refused,  as  a 
people,  to  become  the  heralds  of  their  incar- 
nate Saviour,  the  body  died.  They  became 
barren  and  corrupt,  until  finally  the  nation 
was  annihilated  and  became  extinct,  broken 
ofi"  and  severed  from  the  good  olive  tree, 
instead  of  being  developed  into  full  matu- 
rity, beauty  and  fruitfulness  by  union  to 
Christ  Jesus. 

This  trust  of  the  gospel  was  therefore 
taken  from  them  and  given  to  Christians  who 
are  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and  to  whom  is 
now  imparted  the  high  calling,  the  glorious 
privilege,    and   the   paramount  and    trans- 


64  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

cendent  of  all  duties,  that  of  conveying  the 
gospel  and  extending  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
to  every  creature.  This  duty  comprehends, 
includes  and  inspirits  every  other  Christian 
work,  and  is  therefore  enjoined  upon  believ- 
ers in  the  one  expressive  and  final  com- 
mand of  the  departing  Saviour,  and  reit- 
erated and  enforced  by  his  subsequent  com- 
munications from  heaven.  It  is  made  by 
him  the  basis  of  success,  the  law  of  progress, 
the  source  of  life,  permanency  and  prosper- 
ity, the  condition  of  his  promise,  presence 
and  divine  efficiency;  the  test  of  obedience; 
the  measure  of  love ;  the  way  of  self-impart- 
ing peace  and  joy;  and  the  rule  of  future 
recompense.  Recognition  of  this  principle, 
adoption  of  this  spirit,  living  by  this  rule, 
and  consecration  to  this  work,  are  therefore 
essential  to  Christian  character  and  life,  to 
faith,  love,  loyalty,  obedience,  spirituality 
and  happiness.  How  can  a  man  believe  the 
gospel  and  not  say  "come"  to  those  who  are 
perishing  for  lack  of  its  knowledge,  which  he 
is  required  to  proclaim  ?  How  can  a  man 
receive  Christ  and  enter  into  union  with  him, 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  55 

and  not  desire  to  draw  all  men  unto  him? 
How  can  a  man  imbibe  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
and  not  travail  in  soul  for  the  salvation  of 
all  men?  How  can  a  man  bring  his  will 
into  unison  with  the  will  of  Christ  by  pray- 
ing always  with  all  prayer,  "Thy  kingdom 
come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is 
in  heaven,"  and  not  feel  the  extension  of 
that  kingdom  and  the  consummation  of  his 
"will that  all  men  should  be  saved  and  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  to  be  his 
highest  and  holiest  purpose?  How  can  a 
man  be  the  servant  of  Christ  and  be  sent  by 
him  into  the  world,  even  as  the  Father  sent 
him  into  the  world,  and  not  live  and  labour 
for  the  promotion  of  that  great  work  of  which 
Christ  laid  the  foundation,  and  which  he 
has  hired  them  as  labourers  to  carry  on? 
How  can  a  man  honour  the  Lord  with  his 
substance,  and  prove  that  his  love  to  Christ 
is  greater  than  his  love  of  property  and 
wealth,  and  not  willingly  communicate  and 
cheerfully  distribute  it  to  the  furtherance  of 
the  gospel,   and  to  the  support  of  Christ's 


56  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

ministers  and  cause?  How  can  a  man  love 
Christ  and  show  gratitude  to  him,  and  not 
endeavour  to  secure  for  him  the  heathen 
for  his  inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  his  possession  ?  And  how 
can  a  man  be  animated  by  the  love  of  the 
Spirit,  and  not  conspire  in  his  great  mis- 
sion, that  of  convincing  the  world  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment  ? 

Largely  thou  givest,  gracious  Lord, 
Largely  thy  gifts  should  be  restored; 
Freely  thou  givest,  and  thy  word 

Is  "freely  give" — 
He  only  who  forgets  to  hoard, 

Has  learned  to  live. 

Pastors  and  elders,  people,  all 
Should  feel  the  showers  of  mercy  fall, 
And  starting  at  the  Redeemer's  call. 

Give  what  he  gave, 
Till  their  high  deeds  the  world  appal, 

And  sinners  save. 

And  as  it  is  with  individual  Christians  so 
it  is  with  churches.  What  is  fundamental  to 
one,  both  as  to  principle,  life,  duty,  and 
prosperity,  is   essential   to   the   other.      A 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  57 

church  is  made  up  of  individual  Christians, 
and  is  under  obligation  to  believe,  profess 
and  do,  what  is  required  of  each  and  all 
its  members.  The  only  difference  is  in  the 
increased  measure  and  weight  with  which 
the  pressure  of  the  powers  of  the  world  to 
come,  and  the  divine  command  with  its 
solemn  trust,  rest  upon  churches.  If  every 
Christian  is  to  be  a  light,  the  church  is  a 
luminary.  If  every  Christian  is  a  workman, 
the  church  is  a  combination  of  labourers 
under  eflScient  master  workmen.  If  every 
Christian  is  a  soldier,  the  church  is  a  pha- 
lanx, with  its  bold,  daring  and  gallant  lead- 
ers. If  an  individual  Christian  is  weak,  or 
poor,  or  uninfluential,  the  church  is  propor- 
tionably  strong,  competent,  and  powerful. 
And  if,  therefore,  the  recognition  of  the  gos- 
pel as  a  trust,  and  the  extension  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  as  the  primary  duty  of 
life,*  is  essential  to  the  character,  progress, 
and  prosperity  of  every  individual  Christian, 
much  more  is  this  the  law  of  every  church. 

*  Matthew  vi.  31. 


58  BY  WHOM   IS  THE  WORLD 

ACTIVE,  SELF-DENYING  AND  LIBERAL  CO-OPERATION  IN  THE 
CAUSE  OF  CHRIST,  NOT  INDIFFERENT,  BUT  ESSENTIAL  TO 
CHRISTIANS    AND    CHURCHES, 

How  plain  it  is,  and  yet,  oh !  how  little  is 
it  understood  and  felt,  that  Christian  ac- 
tivity, and  sacrifice,  and  contributions  for 
the  cause  of  Christ,  are  not  things  expe- 
dient, important  and  beneficial  merely;  not 
what  a  Christian  is  at  liberty  to  do,  or,  if 
inconvenient,  not  to  do ;  not  matters  which 
depend  upon  our  ability,  or  means,  or  sup- 
posed capacity.  They  are  elements  of  Chris- 
tian character  and  life ;  the  fruits  and  evi- 
dences by  which  the  Spirit  witnesses  that 
we  are  born  of  God;  acts  of  worship;  ac- 
ceptable sacrifices  unto  God;  and  means 
ordained  by  him  for  the  spiritual  good  of  his 
people  and  his  own  glory  through  them. 
They  are  not  acts  of  charity,  the  promptings 
of  impulse.  They  involve  the  integrity 
and  growth  of  Christian  character.  They 
are  invariable  and  universal.  Like  faith, 
repentance,  prayer,  and  praise,  they  will  be 
manifested  by  every  Christian,  and  by  every 
church  according  to  that  which  they  have 


TO    BE   CONVERTED?  59 

and  are.  Inactive,  selfish  and  uncharitable 
they  cannot  be,  for  "it  is  not  to  be  pre- 
sumed," as  has  been  said,  "that  God  gives 
an  individual  or  a  people  a  soul  niggardly 
from  meanness,  parsimonious  from  covetous- 
ness."  These  acts  and  exercises  of  Chris- 
tian life  must,  therefore,  in  all  cases,  be  de- 
veloped according  to  our  resources.  No 
Christian  liveth  unto  himself.  No  church 
liveth  unto  itself.  If  they  do,  they  will 
dwindle,  languish,  and  like  the  heath  in  the 
desert  that  knows  no  water,  remain  stunted 
and  dwarfed,  and  finally  perish.* 

*  "  The  use  of  our  property  furnishes  one  of  the  most 
striking  developments  of  the  heart.  We  are  bound, 
therefore,  to  make  use  of  it  to  show  our  love  for  God — 
our  attachment  to  his  cause.  It  is  the  most  efficient 
method  within  our  reach  of  declaring  the  glory  of  God 
to  a  world  of  sinners.  It  shows  the  subjection  of  our 
selfishness,  and  the  triumph  of  the  Spirit  of  grace  in 
the  heart,  and  over  the  life.  It  brings  to  view,  as  no- 
thing else  can,  the  heaven-born  principle  of  benevo- 
lence in  its  control  of  human  conduct.  It  shows  the 
transforming  power,  and  the  unspeakable  beauty  and 
loveliness  of  the  religion  of  the  cross,  and  speaks 
strongly  to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men,  to  turn 
unto  God,  and  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance." 


60  BY   WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

And  is  not  this  the  reason  why  so  many 
Christians  and  churches  do  actually  live  at 
such  a  poor  dying  rate,  so  cold  and  languid, 
so  barren  and  unprofitable  ? 

A  fouler  vision  yet,  churches  of  light — 
Light  without  love,  glare  on  the  aching  sight. 

They  look  to  themselves,  not  to  Christ. 
They  consider  their  own  things,  not  the 
things  that  are  his.  Like  the  fearful  and 
unbelieving  sinner,  they  are  seeking  for 
peace,  and  prosperity,  and  blessing,  not  in 
the  way  of  cheerful  and  confiding  obedience, 
but  as  direct  gifts  from  God.  They  can  do 
little,  and  therefore  they  do  nothing.  They 
can  give  but  a  small  sum,  and,  therefore, 
give  none  at  all.  Their  influence  is  limited, 
and  therefore  they  roll  it  up  carefully  and 
hide  it  in  the  earth.  They  cannot  grow 
and  strengthen  and  mature  because  they  are 
"always  learning,  and  never  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,"  always  desiring 
and  never  ''doing  the  will  of  God,"  and,  in 
so  doing,  receiving  his  promised  blessing  and 
assurance.  They  sit  cold  and  shivering,  lean 
and  hunger-bitten,  rubbing  their  hands  to- 


TO    BE   CONVERTED?  61 

gether  and  wishing  they  were  warm,  instead 
of  rising  up,  and  invigorating  and  warming 
their  hearts  by  acts  and  exercises  of  Chris- 
tian charity  and  well-doing.  May  He  who  is 
to  dead  bones,  dead  bodies,  dead  hearts,  dead 
souls,  dead  families,  and  dead  churches,  *'the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life,"  breathe  upon  us 
the  word  of  his  life-inspiring,  love-enkin- 
dling and  power-awakening  Spirit,  and  from 
these  dry  mouldering  bones,  whitening  in  the 
sun,  raise  up  children  to  perfect  his  praise, 
and  an  army  of  self-sacrificing  soldiers  to 
fight  valiantly  for  the  cause  of  truth  and 
righteousness. 

And  so  it  ever  will  and  must  be.  He  that 
liveth  to  himself  shall  not  prosper,  and  can- 
not be  happy,  and  that  church  which  liveth 
to  itself  shall  not  receive  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord.  The  eternal  law  of  God's  government 
in  nature,  providence  and  grace,  will  so  de- 
termine it.  "Faith  without  works  is  dead." 
"To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he 
shall  have  more  abundantly,  while  from  him 
that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that 
which  he  seemeth  to  have.  He  that  soweth 
6* 


62  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

sparingly  shall  reap  also  sparingly,  and  he 
that  soweth  bountifully  shall  reap  also  boun- 
tifully. And  God  is  able  to  make  all  grace 
abound  toward  you,  that  ye,  always  having 
all-sufficiency  in  all  things,  may  abound  in 
every  good  work." 

What  blind  infatuation,  what  deplorable 
ignorance  is  it,  then,  for  any  Christian,  min- 
ister, or  church,  to  plead  weakness,  feeble- 
ness, poverty,  and  manifold  necessities 
and  wants,  as  a  reason  for  living  in  inactivity, 
forgetful  of  this  unalterable  relation  between 
sowing  and  reaping,  labour  and  recompense, 
liberality  and  reward.  Self-denial,  sacrifice, 
and  the  contribution  of  our  property  accord- 
ing as  God  hath  prospered  us  (not  grudg- 
ingly, for  the  Lord  loveth  a  cheerful  giver,) 
are  made  by  Christ  essential  to  our  Christian 
hope  and  happiness.  The  poor  widow  gave 
but  a  farthing,  but  it  was  "all  that  she 
had,"  and  she  gave  it  and  was  blessed.  The 
churches  in  Macedonia  out  of  their  deep 
poverty  abounded  unto  the  riches  of  liberal- 
ity, and  were  blessed.  And  so  must  every 
Christian  and  every  church  give,  and  labour, 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  63 

and  pray  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  the 
salvation  of  the  worhi,  if  they  would  receive 
the  full  blessedness  of  the  gospel.  There  is 
not  a  member  of  our  churches  in  this  coun- 
try that  could  not  spare  something  and  lay 
it  by  in  store,  weekly,  for  this  divine  cause. 
There  is  not  a  member,  in  any  of  our  church- 
es, that  could  not  increase,  or  double,  or 
multiply  an  hundred  fold,  what  he  now 
offers  to  Christ,  if  he  really  believed  that 
in  so  doing  he  would  please  him,  profit  him- 
self, and  bring  a  rich  return  of  blessing  to 
his  own  heart.  There  is  not  a  minister  who 
could  not  so  present  this  matter  to  his  peo- 
ple as  to  lead  the  weakest  and  most  impov- 
erished congregation  in  our  land  to  feel  that 
it  was  a  duty,  a  privilege,  and  a  blessing  to 
give,  and  to  give  freely,  in  proportion  to 
their  means  and  other  expenditures,  to  the 
work  of  the  Lord.  And  there  are  thousands 
of  our  largest  and  most  liberal  givers,  who, 
were  their  minds  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  conviction  that  they  are  agents,  stew- 
ards, and  trustees  for  Christ's  kingdom  and 
gospel,  and  that  the  blessing  comes  far  more 


64  BY   WHOM    IS   THE   WORLD 

in  giving  than  in  receiving  or  increasing 
gain,  would  increase  their  contributions 
and  their  efforts,  in  some  cases  thirty,  in 
some  sixty,  in  some  an  hundred  fold. 

ALL   CAN    DO    SOJIETHING. 

"Why  should  not  all  the  godly  member- 
ship of  the  Church  take  their  share,  accord- 
ing to  their  varying  capacities  and  opportuni- 
ties, in  this  blessed  work,  some  in  one  way, 
and  some  in  another?  If  I  cannot  speak,  I 
can  carry  with  me  a  tract,  or  perhaps  I  can 
read  to  those  who  cannot  read  for  themselves. 
Methinks  that  the  churches  will  never  be  in 
a  sound  condition  until  somewhat  of  such  a 
state  of  things  be  realized — till  this  develop- 
ment in  the  application  of  doctrine  to  prac- 
tice is  realized — till  the  membership  of  our 
congregations  become  not  only  hearers  of 
the  word,  but,  in  the  peculiar  gospel  sense, 
doers  also;  for  surely  Paganism 'itself  can 
scarcely  be  so  hateful  to  a  righteous  God,  as 
the  barren  orthodoxy  of  mere  abstract  be- 
lief, and  idle  talk,  and  unproductive  pro- 
fession. Ah !  were  this  better  spirit  to  pre- 
vail  more    widely   through   all   Protestant 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  65 

churches — the  spirit  that  would  prompt  men 
to  be  not  receivers  only,  but  dispensers  also 
of  what  they  had  received — the  spirit  that 
would  lead  all  ecclesiastical  bodies  to  make 
the  doing  of  some  active  work  for  the  Lord, 
in  his  own  vineyard,  as  indispensable  a  con- 
dition of  church  membership  as  the  abstract 
soundness  of  a  creed,  and  the  outward  con- 
sistency of  moral  life  and  conduct,  what  a 
strange  and  happy  revolution  would  soon  be 
effected !  how  soon  would  infidelity  and  home- 
heathenism  be  cast  down !  what  a  new  spirit 
of  ennobling  self-denial  would  be  evoked! 
what  a  spirit  of  large-heartedness,  which 
would  flow  forth  in  copious  streams  in  behalf 
of  a  perishing  world!  Were  this  realized, 
we  might  then  suppose  that  the  dawn  of  mil- 
lennial glory  was  upon  us.  But,  alas  !  alas ! 
though  the  horizon  seemed  already  redden- 
ing with  the  dawn,  the  churches  of  Christ 
are  still  mostly  drowsy  and  fast  asleep.  Ah ! 
it  is  this  that  saddens  my  own  spirit.  Of 
the  cause  of  Christ  I  have  never  desponded, 
and  never  will.  It  will  advance  till  the 
whole   earth  be   filled  with  his  glory.     He 


66  BY   WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

will  accomplish  it,  too,  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  churches  and  individual  men. 
But  he  is  not  dependent  on  any  particular 
church  or  men.  Yea,  if  any  of  these  prove 
slothful  or  negligent,  he  may  in  sore  judg- 
ment remove  their  candlestick,  or  pluck  the 
stars  out  of  the  ecclesiastical  firmament."* 

THIS   IS    THE    ONLY  WAY  TO    SECURE    PROSPERITY  AND  PEACE, 
HERE   AND    HEREAFTER. 

Liberality,  activity,  and  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  Christ,  is  the  true  way  to  personal 
prosperity  and  peace,  and  to  the  favour  and 
blessing  of  God.  In  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven, as  in  God's  moral  government,  obe- 
dience and  reward  are  correlatives,  and  in- 
separably conjoined,  even  when  apparently 
divided.  In  loving  and  living  to  God,  we 
truly  love  and  live  to  ourselves,  and  promote 
our  own  happiness  here  and  hereafter.  We 
are  under  obligations  to  seek  and  to  secure 
our  best  interests,  however,  in  that  way 
alone  which  God  has  pointed  out.  A  right- 
eous,  enlightened,   and    sanctified   love   of 

*  Dr.  Duff. 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  67 

ourselves,  is  made  the  measure  of  our 
love  to  others.  A  man  not  only  may 
but  mu%t  love  himself.  This  he  must  do,  by 
acquiring  a  perfect  knowledge  of  his  rela- 
tions to  God,  and  his  law,  and  of  the  para- 
mount importance  of  the  honour,  glory,  and 
kingdom  of  God,  and  of  what  is  spiritual  and 
eternal,  over  all  bodily  and  temporal  inte- 
rests. Whatever  pertains  to  the  salvation 
of  our  own  soul,  its  sanctification  and  growth 
in  grace,  and  its  everlasting  felicity,  we 
are  under  primary  obligations  to  work  out, 
according  to  the  will  of  God.  And  as  this  is 
to  be  done  by  activity,  sacrifice,  service,  and 
liberality,  in  the  cause  of  Christ's  universal 
reign  and  triumph,  as  surely  as  by  reading 
the  Scriptures,  by  prayer,  and  praise,  every 
Christian  is  bound  to  be  as  faithful,  as 
hearty,  as  zealous  and  exemplary  in  the  for- 
mer, as  in  the  latter.  This  is  essential  to 
the  right  and  required  love  of  self,  to  per- 
sonal salvation,  and  to  our  own  individual 
Christian  character,  hope,  happiness,  and 
heavenly  recompense.  It  is  only  in  this  way 
a  man  can  truly  love  God,  be  made  a  parta- 


68  BY  WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

ker  of  the  divine  nature  and  of  the  divine 
benevolence,  overcome  the  spirit  of  worldly 
selfishness,  which  is  idolatry,  subdue  all  self- 
will  and  all  self-opinionated  prejudices  to  the 
authority  of  God's  will,  as  made  known  in 
his  word,  and  lay  hold  firmly  of  eternal 
life,  secure  *Uhe  pearl  of  great  price," 
"the  treasure  hid  in  the  field,"  "lay  up 
treasure  in  heaven,"  gain  "an  abundant 
entrance  into  the  everlasting  kingdom," 
make  sure  of  "an  eternal  weight  of  glory," 
"reap  abundantly,"  "be  great  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,"  "build  upon  the  foundation"  of 
a  good  hope  in  Christ  Jesus,  "gold,  and  sil- 
ver, and  precious  stones"  that  shall  abide 
for  ever,  transport  his  riches  to  heaven,  be 
followed  by  his  good  works  in  their  ever- 
during  results,  shine  forth  as  a  star  of 
brilliant  glory  in  the  firmament  of  heaven, 
and  having  well  and  faithfully  employed  his 
talents  for  the  glory  of  his  Lord  and  Mas- 
ter, receive  a  crown  of  righteousness,  and  be 
applauded  with  the  welcoming  gratulation, 
"Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  thou 
hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  69 

make  thee  ruler  over  many  things;    enter 
thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 

This  shall  take  thine  hand,  and  lead 

Thy  steps  to  find  thy  Saviour  in  his  poor; 

Yea,  thou  shalt  find  him  in  the  cry  of  all ; 

And  Lazarus,  who  lieth  at  thy  door, 

Hath  friends  above  who  walk  the  heavenly  floor, 

And  he  shall  sue  for  thee,  and  thou  shalt  find 

That  thine  own  prayers  gain  wings  and  readier  soar, 

No  more  blown  prostrate  by  the  wandering  wind, 

Aud  light  \inknown  before,  shall  touch  thine  eyelids  blind, 

Such  in  the  blessed  courts  that  are  above, 

Within  the  living  centre  of  all  space, 

'Mid  their  blest  companies  shall  find  a  place 

Where  God  himself  reveals  his  glorious  face. 

This  assuredly  is  the  only  way  in  which 
a  man  can  work  out  his  own  salvation, 
which  is  his  one  great  business  here  below, 
by  living,  labouring  and  praying,  by  giving 
and  sacrificing  so  as  to  secure  permanent  and 
everlasting  riches,  "where  neither  moth  nor 
rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do  not 
break  through  and  steal." 

And  yet,  under  the  delusion  of  laying  up 
treasure  for  children  and  friends — a  tempta- 
tion and  a  snare  to  drown  them  in  perdition 
7 


70  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

and  in  sloth,  and  in  prodigality  and  vice — 
oh,  how  do  men,  yes,  even  Christian  men, 
live  poor,  and  meanly,  and  niggardly,  and 
die  poor,  and  go  into  eternity  poor,  with 
few  or  no  friends  to  welcome  them,  no  works 
to  follow  them,  no  treasure  exported  before 
them,  and  no  inheritance  invested  in  heaven? 
Yes,  look  around  the  church  of  which  we 
are  each  members,  and  of  how  many  may  we 
say,  as  has  been  strikingly  said,  here  is  an 
acquaintance  of  ours,  and  he  has  been  spend- 
ing the  energy  of  a  very  good  understanding, 
of  exceedingly  strong  will,  or  well  formed 
habits,  in  conducting  business  and  making 
a  fortune.  He  owes  no  man  anything.  He 
assists  the  struggling  poor.  And  he  says,  I 
have  invested  something  for  every  one  of  my 
children.  But  what,  we  may  ask  such  an  one, 
have  you  invested  for  yourself?  You  ought 
not,  with  all  your  love  for  your  children,  to 
think  only  of  them.  What  do  you  propose 
to  invest  for  yourself?  This  is  the  question, 
and  it  is  a  business  one.  You  have  but  one 
way  of  investing  money  permanently.  You 
may  invest  it  in  houses,  or  in  lands,  or  in 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  71 

banks,  but  when  the  great  fire  comes  that 
will  burn  all  that  up,  and  your  beautiful 
mansion  will  be  no  more  to  the  flames  than 
the  dust  you  tread  on,  what  portion  of  your 
property  is  invested  for  yourself,  and  will  re- 
appear after  the  fire,  to  enrich  you  for  ever? 
None,  but  what  you  have  given  up  to  God — 
literally  and  absolutely  none  but  what  you 
have  consecrated  to  the  Saviour — what  you 
have  expended  for  the  poor — what  you  have 
given  out  of  love  to  Christ  and  love  to  fellow 
men.  This  is  in  Christ's  hands,  and  all  and 
only  this,  and  he  will  remind  you  of  it,  and 
show  it  to  you  in  another  shape  at  the  last 
day.  Oh,  what  a  word  that  is,  "Make  to 
yourselves  friends  of  the  mammon  of  unright- 
eousness; that,  when  ye  fail,  they  may 
receive  you  into  everlasting  habitations." 

Thus  thy  -works  may  pass  before 
Waiting  thee, — a  blessed  store, — 
In  their  number,  weight,  and  measure, 
Laid  up  in  enduring  treasure. 

These  earthly  friends,  for  whom  you  live 
and  toil  and  hoard,  cannot  procure  a  habita- 
tion. They  cannot  even  prepare  a  habitation ; 


72  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

they  can  give  no  title  to  a  habitation.  All 
this  is  done  only  by  the  free  grace  of  your 
Father  through  the  merit  of  your  Saviour  and 
Redeemer.  The  title  being  thus  given,  and  the 
house  being  prepared  for  you  by  Christ,  make 
friends  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness, 
that  they  may  receive  you  into  everlasting 
habitations.  A  wonderful  thing  it  is  to  take 
a  cold  shilling  into  my  hand  and  turn  that 
cold  piece  of  metal  into  a  friend,  who,  when 
the  Lord  shall  lift  up  my  head  on  that  day, 
will  be  there  to  receive  me,  and  bid  me  wel- 
come to  the  land  of  rest.  None  of  us  would 
like  to  die  poor.  Who  then  is  he  that  dies  rich  ? 
That  man  dies  rich,  and  only  that  man,  who, 
when  he  leaves  behind  him  a  little  or  more, 
or  nothing,  has  before  him  a  treasure  laid 
up  in  heaven.  Who  dies  poor?  He  that, 
whatever  he  leaves  behind  him,  has  nothing 
laid  up  before  him.  He  dies  poor.  Thus 
do  multitudes  pass  away  "  with  nothing  but 
the  avenging  memories  of  lost  opportunities 
to  follow  them,  angels  of  mercy  struck  down 
here  to  rise  in  the  judgment  against  their 
murderers." 


TO    BE    CONVERTED?  73 

NO  MAN    LIVETH    OR    DIETH    UNTO   HIMSELF. 

No  man  therefore  liveth  to  himself;  the 
law  of  universal  nature,  the  law  of  man's  own 
being,  the  law  of  providence,  and  the  law  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  alike  forbid  and  pre- 
vent it.  And  yet  these  laws  equally  require, 
as  we  have  seen,  every  man  to  love  himself, 
to  live  for  himself,  and  to  seek  and  secure 
the  highest  good  of  his  own  entire  and  per- 
manent being.  There  is  here  a  divine  para- 
dox but  no  contradiction.  "He  that  findeth 
his  life  (in  living  for  himself)  shall  lose  it, 
and  he  that  loseth  his  life  (by  denying  him- 
self) for  my  sake,  shall  find  it."  "  For  who- 
soever will  save  his  life  (from  this  self-deny- 
ing course)  will  lose  it,  and  whosoever  will 
lose  his  life  (of  personal  ease,  indulgence  and 
aggrandizement)  for  my  sake,  shall  find  it. 
For  what  is  a  man  profited  if  he  shall  gain 
(for  his  present,  sensual,  and  temporal  life) 
the  whole  world  and  lose  his  soul,  or  what 
will  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul? 
And  he  that  taketh  not  his  cross,  and  follow- 
eth  after  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me.  For  the 
Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his 
7* 


74  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

Father,  with  his  angels,  and  then  shall  he 
reward  every  man  according  to  his  works." 
In  the  Christian,  the  present  natural  and 
sinful  life  of  selfishness  is  dead,  being  cruci- 
fied with  Christ.  He  has  denied  this  self  by 
the  power  given  to  him  by  Christ  to  be- 
come a  son  of  God.  This  life,  therefore, 
he  loses,  and  finds  the  life  of  faith,  and 
love,  and  consecration  to  God  in  Christ. 
The  life  that  he  now  lives,  therefore,  he 
lives  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved 
him  and  gave  himself  for  him.  "I  live,'* 
says  the  Christian,  "but  not  I.  It  is  my  Be- 
loved that  liveth  in  me.  I  love  myself,  not 
with  my  own  love,  but  with  the  love  of  my 
Beloved,  who  loveth  me.  I  love  not  myself 
in  myself,  but  myself  in  him  and  him  in  me.'* 

Nor  time,  nor  place,  nor  chance,  nor  deatli  can  bow 

My  least  desire  nnto  the  least  remove ; 
He's  firmly  mine  by  oath;   I  his  by  vow; 

And  knit  we  are  by  strongest  bonds  of  love: 
He's  mine  by  water ;  I  am  his  by  wine ; 
Thus  I  my  best  Beloved's  am;  thus  he  is  mine. 

He  is  my  altar;  I  his  holy  place; 

I  am  his  guest;  and  he  my  living  food; 
I'm  his  by  penitence;  he  mine  by  grace; 

I'm  his  by  purchase;  he  is  mine  by  blood; 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?      '  75 

He's  my  directing  helm  ;  and  I  his  vine ; 
Thus  I  my  best  Beloved's  am;  thus  he  is  mine. 

He  gives  me  wealth ;  I  give  him  all  my  vows ; 

I  give  him  songs;  he  gives  me  length  of  days; 
With  wreaths  of  grace  he  crowns  my  conquering  brows; 

And  I  his  temples  with  a  crown  of  praise 
Which  he  accepts;  an  everlasting  sign 
That  I  my  best  Beloved's  am ;  that  he  is  mine. 

Feeling  thus,  the  Christian  lives  no  longer 
unto  self  but  unto  Christ,  and  yet,  never- 
theless, in  living  unto  Christ,  and  in  yielding 
body,  soul,  and  spirit,  wife,  children,  houses 
and  lands,  as  a  living  and  loving  sacrifice 
unto  Christ  and  the  interests  of  his  kingdom, 
he  secures  his  own  salvation,  his  own  peace, 
and  joy,  and  happiness,  the  presence  and 
blessing  of  God  in  all  he  does  and  on  all  he 
loves.  "For  every  one  who  hath  forsaken 
(the  selfish  appropriation,  and  holds  in  trust, 
and  for  the  glory  of  Christ)  houses,  or  breth- 
ren, or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife, 
or  children,  or  lands,  for  my  name's  sake, 
shall  receive  an  hundred  fold,  and  shall  in- 
herit everlasting  life." 

For  any  man  to  live  to  himself  is  mon- 


76  BY   WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

strouslj  sinful,  and  for  any  professing  Chris- 
tian to  do  so,  is  to  exaggerate  such  guilt  by 
the  most  flagrant  insult,  hypocrisy  and  fraud. 
It  is  the  most  daring  presumption  and  rebel- 
lion against  the  glorious  majesty  and  great- 
ness, the  perfect  holiness,  infinite  all-suffi- 
ciency and  goodness,  and  the  absolute  power 
and  supremacy  of  that  divine  Lord  and  Mas- 
ter, to  whom  he  has  sworn  allegiance.  It  is 
ingratitude  black  as  hell,  mingled  with  rebel- 
lion daring  as  that  of  devils,  against  Him  to 
whom  we  owe  ourselves,  and  all  that  we  are 
or  have,  or  hope,  inasmuch  as  it  takes  the 
very  members,  faculties,  talents,  and  oppor- 
tunities, which  are  his — redeemed,  regene- 
rated and  consecrated  by  him,  for  his  own 
service  and  glory — and  employs  them,  like 
the  unfaithful  servants,  for  our  own  selfish  pur- 
poses. The  selfish  man,  with  a  heart,  as  has 
been  said,  no  bigger  than  his  coffin,  just  large 
enough  to  hold  himself,  is  like  those  creeping 
insects  which  having  no  object  around  which 
to  twine,  cleave  to  the  dust,  encircle  them- 
selves, and  there,  by  their  rank  luxuriance  and 
unwholesome  smell,  rot  and  die.    He  destroys 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  77 

himself.      Selfishness    itself    perishes,    ex- 
hausted by  its  own  excess. 

Oh  what  indignity,  what  wickedness 
against  a  jealous  God  is  this!  But  such 
selfishness  is  not  only  suicidal.  It  gains  no- 
thing! It  can  only  treasure  up  indignatioa 
and  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.  After 
all,  no  man  really  lives  unto  himself.  He 
may  pervert  and  prostitute  the  being  and 
the  powers  entrusted  to  him.  He  may  live, 
and  labour,  and  eat,  and  drink,  as  he  thinks, 
for  himself;  but  he  lives  for  others  and  for 
God.  So  are  man,  and  society,  and  nature 
constituted  by  God,  that  while  man  labours 
for  himself,  and  the  distinctions  of  pro- 
perty become  a  stimulus  to  exertion,  he  is 
filling  up  his  place  in  the  comprehensive  plan 
and  benefitting  his  species.  Of  all  the  earth, 
he  can  possess  at  most  but  little,  and  enjoy 
but  little,  and  for  a  very  little  time.  All  his 
labour  and  strength,  all  he  makes  and  accu- 
mulates, and  invests  and  hoards,  and  spends, 
he  does  for  others.  His  life,  his  spirit,  his 
principles,  his  conduct,  are  all  acting  upon, 
and  impressing  and  influencing,  others.     For 


78  BY   WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

good  or  for  evil,  for  weal  or  woe,  for  salva- 
tion or  damnation,  he  is  living  for  others. 
Soon  he  dies;  his  grasp  relaxes;  his  titles 
are  all  extinguished ;  his  name  and  his  me- 
mory rot  like  his  body,  and  are  forgotten. 
The  place  of  business,  the  rounds  of  duty, 
the  haunts  of  pleasure,  the  home  of  selfish 
indulgence,  the  bank,  the  courts,  the  ex- 
change, know  him  no  more  for  ever,  and 
he  has  no  further  interest  in  anything  that 
is  done  under  the  sun. 

No  man,  therefore,  can  live  unto  himself. 
Equally  but  still  more  fearfully  true  is  it 
that  "no  man  dieth  unto  himself."  He  dies 
under  this  law  of  universal  being,  and  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  under  its  penalty.  He  dies  as 
he  lives.  He  dies  to  all  further  enjoyment 
of  this  world  and  this  life,  and  these  means 
and  opportunities  of  extending  the  gospel 
and  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  of  saving  souls 
from  death.  He  dies  to  meet  that  judgment 
which  is  after  death,  and  as  he  has  here 
sown  the  wind  of  his  own  selfish,  cove- 
tous and  indolent  indulgence,  he  reaps  the 


TO    BE    CONVERTED?  79 

■whirlwind  of  sorrow  and  disappointment,  and 
everlasting  regret — ^'for  there  is  no  repent- 
ance in  the  grave."  Whether  we  have  loved 
God  or  have  loved  self, 

These  are  tlie  mirrors  wherein  souls  are  seen; 
These  are  the  books;  on  this  heaven's  scale  depends; 
Judgment  announced  to  the  eternal  years. 

Man  can  do  nothing  of  himself  but  sin, 
and  nothing  that  is  right  or  acceptable  in 
the  sight  of  God ;  and  when  by  gra1;e  he 
does  all  he  ought  to  do,  to  the  utmost  of  his 
ability,  he  is  an  unprofitable  servant,  sinful 
and  imperfect.  The  acceptance  of  his  ser- 
vices and  gifts,  and  the  entrustment  to  his 
hands  of  "the  high  calling"  of  being  a  ser- 
vant unto  God,  for  the  benefit  of  the  perish- 
ing world,  is  the  gift  of  Christ's  infinite  good- 
ness; and  the  recompense  of  reward  with 
which  it  is  followed,  the  bestowment  of  his 
free,  sovereign,  and  unmerited  munificence. 
But  this  only  makes  selfishness  and  disobe- 
dience, and  eye-service,  and  love  of  family 
and  friends,  while  there  is  mean  niggardli- 
ness towards  Christ's  cause  and  kingdom,  the 


80  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

more  disgracefully  foul  and   abominable  in 
the  judgment  of  heaven  and  earth. 

OUR    CHURCHES  AND   CHURCH    MEMBERS    MUST    DO    MORE. 

Brethren,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  Something 
must  be  done.  We  cannot  remain  as  we  are. 
The  best  of  our  ministers,  and  churches,  and 
members,  but  feebly  realize  and  act  accord- 
ing to  the  great  law  of  living  unto  others, 
unto  "Christ,  and  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world.  Many,  however,  feel,  or  do  nothing 
to  show  that  they  love  Christ,  or  value  his 
promised  presence,  by  keeping  his  last  great 
and  all  comprehending  command.  Oh,  it 
is  incredible  to  believe,  and  beyond  measure 
humiliating  to  tell,  one-third  of  our  ministers, 
elders,  churches,  and  members,  give  not  the 
evidence,  by  a  single  reported  dollar,  of  any 
recognition  of  their  duty  as  pure,  Christ- 
loving  disciples,  to  cooperate  in  the  procla- 
mation of  the  gospel,  and  the  extension  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  to  every  creature. 
These  principles  were  fully  and  ably  pre- 
sented by  our  last  General  Assembly,  and 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  81 

"wisely  urged  upon  the  practical  considera- 
tion of  our  Presbyteries,  and  enforced  upon 
our  church  sessions  generally.* 

WHAT    CAX    BE    DONE  ? 

But  still,  the  great  practical  hinderance 
remains,  and  that  is,  to  get  these  views  and 
principles  into  the  minds  and  hearts  of  those 
ministers  and  churches  who  seem  to  take 
their  ease,  to  fold  their  hands,  and  go 
asleep  in  Zion,  and  who  neither  read,  nor 
hear,  nor  feel  the  power  and  cogency  of 
these  truths.  And  to  reach  this  ultimate 
end,  what  other  method  is  there  left  to  the 
Church,  than  for  each  Presbytery  to  adopt 
the  course  of  voluntary  and  mutual  inter- 
change of  pulpits,  so  that  brethren,  appoint- 
ed by  Presbytery,  and  clothed  with  its  au- 
thority, may  kindly,  but  faithfully,  and  as 
often  and  long  as  may  be  necessary,  stir  up 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  all  who  call  upon 
the  Lord  Jesus,  to  the  remembrance  of  their 
relation  to  him  and  to  his  kingdom,  and  of 

*  See  the  Report  and  Resolutions  on  Systematic  Col- 
lections, added  as  Note  B. 

8 


82  BY  WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

the  inseparable  connection  established  be- 
tween obedience,  activity,  and  liberality,  and 
their  own  spiritual  life,  maturity,  power,  and 
progress. 

Here  then,  is  something  we  can  do.  It  is 
simple,  scriptural,  unexpensive,  in  accord- 
ance with  our  spirit  and  principles  as  a 
Church,  and  implied  in  the  injunctions  of  our 
General  Assembly.  We  have  the  gospel. 
It  is  given  to  us  in  trust  for  the  heathen  and 
"the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,"  as  "light 
to  enlighten  the  gentiles."  Of  this  trust 
every  Christian,  still  more  every  deacon, 
more  emphatically  still  every  elder,  still 
more  solemnly  and  responsibly  every  minis- 
ter, and — to  an  extent  which  combines  in 
itself  the  responsibility  and  the  ability  of  all 
these  severally — every  church  is  a  steward, 
who  will  be  honoured  and  recompensed  in 
proportion  as  they  are  found  faithful.  This 
truth  is  power — "the  power  of  God  to  every 
one"  that  "receives  it  into  a  good  and  hon- 
est heart,"  and  whose  "faith  works  by  love." 
To  impart  this  truth,  therefore,  and  to  make 
it  effectual  in  the  hearts  of  our  brethren,  who 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  83 

either  misconceive  or  but  partially  believe  it, 
is  a  portion  of  the  very  trust  and  agency  com- 
mitted to  us.  In  love  to  them,  in  love  to 
the  Church  of  God,  whose  honour,  and  influ- 
ence, and  pov^er,  and  prosperity  are  invol- 
ved, and  in  love  to  the  souls  of  perishing 
men,  and  to  Him,  the  travail  of  whose 
soul  they  are,  let  us  avail  ourselves  of  every 
means  within  our  reach  of  bringing  up  all 
our  ministers,  churches,  officers,  and  mem- 
bers, to  the  right  knowledge  of  Christ  and 
keeping  of  his  commandments,  which  is  the 
complete  work  and  business  of  a  Christian. 
For  surely  conformity  to  Christ,  and  unison 
of  heart,  will,  spirit,  and  purpose,  with  him, 
is  the  very  being  of  a  Christian,  without 
which  he  is  without  Christ  as  the  source  of 
life  and  the  spring  and  fountain  of  happiness. 

MOTIVES   FOR    DOING    WHAT   EVERY    ONE   CAN   DO. 

Brethren,  would  we  be  honest?  There  is 
one  debt  we  owe,  which  is  ever  pressing 
upon  us,  which  we  can  never  fully  pay, 
which  we  must  be  ever  owing  and  ever  pay- 
ing, and  in  so  doing  experience  "an   over- 


84  BY   WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

payment  of  delight" — and  that  is  "to  love 
one  another,  to  love  and  do  good  to  all  men 
as  we  have  opportuity,"  that  "through  our 
mercy  they  may  receive  mercy."  Are  we 
paying  punctual  interest  and  constant  divi- 
dends on  this  debt,  and  thus  in  giving,  re- 
ceiving, in  scattering  abroad,  increasing,  and 
in  blessing,  being  blessed,  yea,  so  blessed  as 
to  have  the  windows  of  heaven  opened,  and 
God's  grace  poured  out  upon  us  in  such  meas- 
ure that  we  shall  not  be  able  fully  to  receive 
it? 

Would  we,  as  Christians,  be  happy,  and 
live  in  peace  and  joy?  Then  we  must  live 
in  love.  Christian  happiness  is  society,  fel- 
lowship with  God  in  Christ,  with  angels,  and 
with  saints.  God  is  love,  and  every  one  that 
loveth  is  born  of  God.  "If  any  man  love 
God,  he  is  known  of  God,"  and  so  knows 
God.  "  He  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth 
in  God."  Love  is  the  nature  of  God,  and 
the  element  of  Christian  life — love  to  Him 
that  begat,  and  to  all  those  that  are  begotten 
of  him.  Love  shines  as  a  light  into  the 
Christian's  heart,  acts  as  a   torch  or  a  fire 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  85 

Within  him.  His  knowledge  of  Christ  in- 
flames his  love  and  hatred.  As  surely 
as  he  sees  hira,  he  abhors  himself,  and  is 
transported  with  the  love  of  Christ  shed 
abroad  in  his  heart.  Thus  humble  and 
happy,  he  cannot  restrain  his  feelings.  He 
is  consumed  with  an  inward  and  irresisti- 
ble desire  for  others  that  they  also  may 
be  saved.  Every  soul  saved  is  a  soul  to 
love,  a  new  well-spring  of  joy,  an  object  of 
wonder  and  delight,  another  child  added  to 
the  family  of  God,  another  companion  in 
tribulation  and  in  trial,  another  star  lighted 
up  in  the  firmament  of  heaven,  another  gem 
sparkling  in  the  crown  of  the  Redeemer, 
another  harp,  with  his,  to  swell  the  song  of 
the  Lamb  before  the  throne. 

Hosanna,  sound  from  hill  to  hill, 
And  spread  from  plain  to  plain, 

While  louder,  sweeter,  clearer  still, 
Woods  echo  to  the  strain. 

Hosanna  on  the  wings  of  light, 

O'er  earth  and  ocean  fly, 
'Till  morn  to  eve,  and  noon  to  night, 

And  heaven  to  earth  reply. 

8* 


86  BY  WHOM   IS   THE   WORLD 

Brethren,  we  have  but  a  day  in  which  to 
live,  and  labour,  and  work,  and  that  day  is 
far  spent.  The  night  is  at  hand,  when  no 
man  can  work.  We  have  but  one  season  in 
which  to  prepare  for  ourselves  a  plentiful 
harvest,  and  the  spring  is  past,  the  summer 
is  gone,  and  the  harvest  season  nearly  over, 
and  we  can  only  reap  according  as  we  have 
sown.  We  have  but  one  life  and  one  body 
"to  spend  and  be  spent  for  Christ,"  and  as 
"  herein  he  is  now  glorified  if  we  bear  much 
fruit,"  so  "  will  he  render  to  every  man  who, 
by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seeks 
for  glory,  and  honour,  and  immortality,  eter- 
nal life." 

Brethren,  what  mean  these  aches  and 
pains,  and  this  weariness,  and  these  often  in- 
firmities, these  wrinkles,  and  hoary  hairs,  and 
these  other  failings  of  our  natural  strength  ? 
Oh,  are  they  not  all  designed  to  show  us 
that  our  stay  here  is  short,  our  connection 
with  earth  transient,  our  continuance  in  this 
earthly  house  but  as  that  of  the  wayfaring 
man  who  turneth  aside  from  his  far  journey 
for  a  night  ? 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  8T 

Oh,  let  us,  then,  now  enter  into  fellowship 
with  Christ  in  the  work  given  him  to  do,  and 
which  he  has  commanded  us  to  fill  up — 
even  that  which  is  behind  and  still  unfulfilled, 
of  the  universal  efiicacy  of  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  and  "the  glory  that  is  to  follow" 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  "whereof  we 
are  made  the  ministers"  or  agents.  Christ, 
though  in  the  form  of  God,  and  being  God, 
entered  into  the  fellowship  with  us  in  all 
our  infirmities,  nay,  in  our  miseries,  in  our 
guilt,  in  our  condemnation  and  death,  in 
all  our  pains  and  penalties,  in  all  our  sorrows 
and  solicitudes.  To  be  able  thus  to  sympa- 
thize with  us,  and  succour  and  save  us, 
Christ  united  himself  with  our  very  nature, 
and  became  a  projntiation  for  the  sins  of  the 
world.  Having  done  all  this,  he  now  invites 
us  to  enter  into  fellowship  with  his  divine 
nature,  with  his  gifts  and  graces,  his  glory 
and  blessedness,  his  death,  resurrection,  and 
ascension,  his  ever-living  power  and  presence 
with  his  people — by  preaching  the  good 
tidings  to  every  creature  in  all  the  world, 
making  them  his  disciples,  and  teaching  them 


88p  by  whom  is  the  world 

his  will.  To  have  such  communion  with  the 
Father  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  is  the 
honour,  the  dignity,  and  the  happiness  of  the 
believing  heart.  Oh,  then,  being  exalted  to 
such  a  heavenly  privilege,  let  us  not  be  like 
brute  beasts,  understanding  it  not,  but  rather 
let  us  rejoice  in  it,  and  count  all  things 
but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  being  lifted  up 
from  death  and  pollution  to  this  fellowship 
with  the  throne,  the  society,  the  friendship, 
and  the  service  of  the  great  God  and  our 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ.  Oh,  let  him  come  in 
and  take  possession,  and  have  full  and  trans- 
forming fellowship  with  these  cold  hearts  of 
ours,  these  dead  and  carnal  affections,  these 
low  and  grovelling  desires,  and  with  what- 
ever in  our  hopes  and  powers,  our  influence 
and  activity,  our  money  and  our  means,  he 
will  be  pleased  to  use  for  his  glory,  and  our 
mutual  endearment  and  happiness.  This, 
yes  this,  will  be  the  felicity  of  heaven,  and 
this,  yes  this,  may  impart  to  us  heaven  be- 
low, and,  by  the  full  exercise  of  this  grace, 
ripen  into  an  early  blossom  the  fragrant 
flowers  of  Paradise. 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  89 

And  as  it  has  pleased  Christ  in  his  infi- 
nite wisdom  and  mercj  to  represent  himself 
as  present  and  visible  in  these  poor  and  per- 
ishing souls  around  us,  and  in  these  heathen 
who  are  his  inheritance,  and  heirs  to  his 
testamentary  blessings,  oh,  thou  divine  and 
blessed  Saviour,  who  canst  give  power  and 
quicken  into  life,  oh,  give  us  faith  to  look 
upon  them  as  such  !  Help  us  to  look  through 
their  unworthiness,  their  vileness,  their  in- 
gratitude, their  hard  and  impenitent  and 
blinded  hearts,  and  to  see  in  them  thee,  our 
Lord  and  our  God.  As  strangers  let  us 
take  them  in.  As  sick  with  the  foul  leprosy 
of  sin,  as  bound  in  the  prison  of  the  great 
adversary  who  leads  them  captive  at  his  will, 
as  hungering  and  thirsting  and  yet  spending 
their  strength  for  naught,  and  their  labour 
for  that  which  satisfieth  not,  help  us  to  visit 
them,  to  give  them  the  bread  of  heaven,  and 
the  water  of  life,  and  in  so  doing,  to  feel  that 
we  are  doing  it  all  to  thee,  and  that  we  shall 
in  no  wise  lose  our  reward,  W'hen  thou,  our 
righteous  Judge,  shalt  say  to  all  such  "  Come, 
ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom 


90  BY   WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD 

prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto 
one  of  the  least  of  these,  my  brethren,  ye 
have  done  it  unto  me." 

Give  us,  then,  0  divine  and  merciful  Sa- 
viour, faith  and  love,  to  break  through  this 
selfishness,  this  self-seeking,  this  worldliness, 
this  covetousness  which  is  idolatry,  this  flesh- 
lusting  spirit,  which  freezes  up  our  warmest 
affections.  Help,  0  help  us  to  bring  these 
objects  of  thy  love,  which  are  distant,  near; 
to  render  them  visible  to  the  eye  of  our  minds 
though  unseen ;  to  make  them  present  though 
absent;  creditors  though  debtors;  friends 
though  foes;  dear  and  beloved  though  black 
and  uncomely ;  and  all  this  because  they  are 
thine,  and  dear  to  thee,  and  yet  to  be  brought 
nigh  and  given  to  thee  for  thy  possession. 

Most  blessed  Saviour!  Thou  who  only  art 

The  sacred  fountain  of  eternal  light, 
All-powerful  magnet  of  my  inmost  heart! 

Oh,  thou,  my  heart's  desire,  my  soul's  delight! 
My  soul  irradiate  and  thy  power  impart. 

And  then  my  soul  shall  prize  no  good  above  thee, 

And  then  my  soul  shall  know,  and  knowing,  love  thee, 
And  then  my  trembling  thoughts  shall  never  start 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  91 

From  thy  commands  or  swerve  the  least  degree, 
Or  even  desire  to  move  but  as  they  move  in  thee. 
Thus  living,  loving,  serving  thee  below, 
Do  thou  thy  strength,  thy  grace,  thy  peace  bestow. 

"  God  be  merciful  unto  us,  and  bless  us ; 
and  cause  his  face  to  shine  upon  us.  Selah. 
That  thj  way  may  be  known  upon  earth, 
thy  saving  health  among  all  nations.  Let 
the  people  praise  thee,  0  God ;  let  all  the 
people  praise  thee.  0  let  the  nations  be 
glad  and  sing  for  joy:  for  thou  shalt  judge 
the  people  righteously,  and  govern  the  na- 
tions upon  earth.  Selah.  Let  the  people 
praise  thee,  0  God;  let  all  the  people  praise 
thee.  Then  shall  the  earth  yield  her  in- 
crease; and  God,  even  our  own  God,  shall 
bless  us."     Psalm  Ixvii.  1-6. 

"  It  shall  come,  that  I  will  gather  all  na- 
tions and  tongues,  and  they  shall  come  and 
see  my  glory."  Isa.  Ixvi.  18.  "  It  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  that  the  moun- 
tain of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established 
in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be 
exalted  above  the  hills,  and  all  nations  shall 
flow  to  it;  and  many  people  shall  go  and 


S^  BY  WHOM   IS  THE   WORLD 

say,  Come  ye,  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain 
of  the  Lord,  to  the  house  of  the  God  of 
Jacob,  and  he  will  teach  us  his  ways,  and  we 
will  walk  in  his  paths."  Isa.  ii.  2,  3.  And 
again,  "  Behold,  thus  saith  the  Lord,  I  will 
lift  up  my  hand  to  the  gentiles,  and  set  up 
my  standard  to  the  people,  and  they  shall 
bring  thy  sons  in  their  arms,  and  thy  daugh- 
ters shall  be  carried  upon  their  shoulders.'* 
Isa.  xlix.  22.  And  again,  "Behold,  thou 
shalt  call  a  nation  that  thou  knowest  not, 
and  nations  that  know  not  thee  shall  run 
unto  thee,  because  of  the  Lord  thy  God„  and 
for  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  for  he  hath  glo- 
rified thee."  Isa.  Iv.  5.  0  blessed,  then, 
ever  blessed  be  thy  name,  0  mighty  and 
most  merciful  Saviour,  who  hast  been  pleased 
to  make  thyself  known  among  us  gentiles. 
"Give  unto  the  Lord,  0  ye  kindreds  of  the 
people,  give  unto  the  Lord  glory  and  strength ; 
give  unto  the  Lord  the  glory  due  to  his  name." 
Psal.  xcvi.  7.  "All  the  earth  shall  worship 
thee,  and  shall  sing  unto  thee,  they  shall  sing 
unto  thy  name."  Psal.  Ixvi.  4.  "All  the 
ends  of  the  world  shall  remember,  and  turn 


TO   BE   CONVERTED?  93 

unto  the  Lord,  and  all  the  kindreds  of  the 
nations  shall  worship  before  thee."  Psal. 
xxii.  27. 

0  that  the  Church  on  earth  could  travail 
in  earnest  prayer  for  this  glorious  day  of 
grace,  with  the  Church  of  the  redeemed  in 
heaven. 

"And  when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  seal, 
I  saw  under  the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that 
were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the 
testimony  which  they  held :  and  they  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  saying.  How  long,  0 
Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge 
and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on 
the  earth?  And  white  robes  were  given  unto 
every  one  of  them  ;  and  it  was  said  unto  them, 
that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  little  season, 
until  their  fellow-servants  also  and  their 
brethren,  that  should  be  killed  as  they  were, 
should  be  fulfilled."     Rev.  vi.  9—11. 

"And  I  saw  as  it  were  a  sea  of  glass  min- 
gled with  fire ;  and  them  that  had  gotten  the 
victory  over  the  beast,  and  over  his  image, 
and  over  his  mark,  and  over  the  number  of 


94  BY  WHOM   IS   THE  WORLD,  ETC. 

his  name,  stand  on  the  sea  of  glass,  having 
the  harps  of  God,  and  they  sing  the  song  of 
Moses  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  song  of 
the  Lamb,  saying,  Great  and  marvellous 
are  thy  works,  Lord  God  Almighty;  just 
and  true  are  thy  ways,  thou  King  of  saints. 
Who  shall  not  fear  thee,  0  Lord,  and  glo- 
rify thy  name?  for  thou  only  art  holy:  for 
all  nations  shall  come  and  worship  before 
thee;  for  thy  judgments  are  made  manifest." 
Rev.  XV.  2 — 4. 

So  vast  the  electric  chain,  such  the  appeal! 

Start  we  to  hear  the  overwhelming  claim  ? 

Yea,  more  than  words  the  covenanted  seal, 

For  there  are  Three  in  heaven;  the  glorious  name 

Whose  word  of  promise  sure  shall  never  fail. 

Lift  then  thy  voice,  get  up  unto  the  mountain, 

Say  unto  Zion,  from  thy  trance  awaken, 

Thy  sea  goes  forth,  in  every  land  a  fountain 

Springs  forth  to  thee!     0  now  no  more  forsaken, 

City  of  Grod  great  things  of  thee  are  spoken. 

All  nations  have  discerned  the  glorious  token, 

Lift  up  thy  mountain  voice ;  the  spell  of  death  is  broken. 


APPENDIX 


Note  A. 

As  this  is  a  truth  which  enters  into  our  conclu- 
sion of  the  obligation  and  duty  which  this  consti- 
tution implies,  I  will  give  some  illustration  of  it. 
The  late  Amos  Lawrence,  among  his  private  en- 
tries has  the  following  :  '^  Jan.  1, 1849 — I  adopted 
the  practice  ten  years  ago,  of  spending  my  income. 
My  outgoes  since  the  first  of  January,  1842,  have 
been  upward  of  $400,000,  and  my  property  on  the 
first  of  this  year  is  as  great  as  on  January  1, 1842. 
The  more  I  give,  the  more  I  have."  Again : 
"Jan.  1,  1852 — The  outgoes  for  all  objects  since 
January  1,  1842  (ten  years,)  have  been  $604,000 
more  than  five-sixths  of  which  have  been  applied 
in  making  other  people  happy."  Here  is  an  ex- 
ample of  reproductive  profusion — "  The  more  I 
give,  the  more  I  get;"  scattering,  yet  increasing. 
And,  along  with  the  increase  of  substance,  what 
is  still  rarer  and  more  precious,  the  increase  of 
personal  felicity.      Instead  of  scattering,  had  he 

(96) 


96  APPENDIX. 

concentrated  all  this  outlay  on  himself,  had  he 
spent  the  half  million  on  dainty  viands  and  costly 
wines,  on  sumptuous  furniture  and  glittering  vehi- 
cles, he  would  have  done  no  more  than  many  do, 
on  whose  careworn,  dissatisfied  countenances,  God 
has  inscribed  the  curse  of  self-idolatry;  hut  by 
spending  it  in  the  effort  to  make  other  people 
happy,  Amos  Lawrence  extended  the  sphere  of 
his  enjoyment  as  wide  as  the  objects  of  his  philan- 
thropy, and  in  his  shining  face  he  habitually 
showed  that  God  had  given  him  the  blessedness 
of  a  man,  for  whom  many  prayed  and  whom  He 
greatly  loved. 

So  essential  to  the  truest  enjoyment  is  a  gener- 
ous disposition,  that  we  cannot  refrain  from  quot- 
ing the  words  of  one  whose  kind  deeds  were 
almost  as  numerous  as  his  brilliant  sayings,  and 
who  gives  the  following  '^receipt  for  making  every 
day  happy:" — "When  you  rise  in  the  morning 
form  the  resolution  to  make  the  day  a  happy  one 
to  a  fellow-creature.  It  is  easily  done;  a  left- oft" 
garment  to  the  man  who  needs  it,  a  kind  word  to 
the  sorrowful,  an  encouraging  expression  to  the 
striving;  trifles  in  themselves,  light  as  air,  will  do 
it,  at  least  for  the  twenty-four  hours ;  and  if  you 
are  young,  depend  upon  it,  it  will  tell  when  you 
are  old ;  and,  if  you  are  old,  rest  assured  it  will 


APPENDIX.  97 

send  you'gently  and  happily  down  the  stream  of 
time  to  eternity.  By  the  most  simple  arithmeti- 
cal sum  look  at  the  result ;  you  send  one  person, 
only  one,  happily  through  the  day;  that  is  three 
hundred  and  sixty -five  in  the  course  of  the  year; 
and,  supposing  you  live  forty  years  only  after  you 
commence  that  course  of  medicine,  you  have  made 
fourteen  thousand  six  hundred  human  beings 
happy,  at  all  events,  for  a  time.  Now,  worthy 
reader,  is  not  this  simple  ?  It  is  too  short  for  a 
sermon,  too  homely  for  ethics,  and  too  easily  ac- 
complished for  you  to  say,  ^  I  would  if  I  could.' " 

What  Sydney  Smith  recommends,  was  the  prac- 
tice of  Cotton  Mather,  two  hundred  years  ago. 
Few  men  have  ever  condensed  into  the  narrow 
limits  of  human  existence  so  much  substantial 
service  to  their  fellow-creatures  as  that  good  man, 
whose  name  is  still  a  household  word  in  new  Eng- 
land homes.  And  it  would  appear  that  it  was 
his  custom  every  morning  when  he  awoke,  to  con- 
sider these  three  things.  What  is  there  I  can 
this  day  do  for  the  welfare  of  my  family  ?  What 
is  there  I  can  do  in  the  service  of  my  neighbour? 
What  is  there  I  can  do  for  the  glory  of  God  ? 

Of  this  principle,  Sydney  Smith  affords  a  most 
pertinent  example  of  what  the  experience  of  Wil- 
berforce,  Howard,  every  philanthropist,  mission- 
9* 


98  APPENDIX. 

ary,  and  liberal-minded  and  liberal-hearted  Chris- 
tian will  confirm. 

''I  was  very  poor/'  says  he,  ^Hill  I  was  appointed 
to  St.  Paul's/'  The  valuable  living  of  Edmonton, 
which  was  in  the  gift  of  St  Paul's,  fell  vacant. 
Ey  the  rules  of  the  Chapter,  he  could  have  taken 
it  himself,  or  given  it  as  he  pleased.  The  late 
vicar,  Mr.  Tate,  was  a  friend  of  his  own,  who, 
years  before,  as  a  Yorkshire  clergyman,  had  stood 
up  with  him  in  favour  of  Catholic  Emancipation. 
He  left  a  family  behind  him,  his  eldest  son  having 
been  his  curate ;  and  Sydney  Smith  writes  to  his 
wife  the  following  account  of  his  interview  with 
the  widow  and  family,  after  he  had  determined  to 
give  the  cure  to  the  son  of  his  old  friend,  in  place 
of  giving  it  to  himself. 

^'  Dear  Kate, — I  went  over  yesterday  to  the 
Tates,  at  Edmonton.  The  family  consists  of  three 
delicate  daughters,  an  aunt,  the  old  lady,  and  her 
son,  then  curate  of  Edmonton : — the  old  lady  was 
in  bed.  I  found  there  a  physician,  an  old  friend 
of  Tate's,  attending  them  from  friendship,  who 
had  come  from  London  for  that  purpose.  They 
were  in  daily  expectation  of  being  turned  out  from 

house  and  curacy I  began  by  inquiring 

the  character  of  their  servant,  then  turned  the 
conversation  upon  their  afi'airs,  and  expressed  a 


APPENDIX.  99 

hope  the  Chapter  might  ultimately  do  something 
for  them.  I  then  said,  '  It  is  my  duty  to  state  to 
you  (they  were  all  assembled,)  that  I  have  given 
away  the  living  of  Edmonton;  I  have  written  to 
our  Chapter-clerk  this  morning,  to  mention  the 
person  to  whom  I  have  given  it :  and  I  must  also 
tell  you,  that  I  am  sure  he  will  appoint  his  curate. 
(A  general  silence  and  dejection.)  It  is  a  very 
odd  coincidence,'  I  added,  '  that  the  gentleman  I 
have  selected,  is  a  namesake  of  this  family.  His 
name  is  Tate.  Have  you  any  relations  of  that 
name  V  '  No,  we  have  not.'  ^  And  by  a  more 
singular  coincidence,  his  name  is  Thomas  Tate. 
In  short,'  I  added,  '  there  is  no  use  mincing  the 
matter;  you  are  vicar  of  Edmonton.'  They  all 
burst  into  tears.  It  flung  me  also  into  a  great 
agitation  of  tears,  and  I  wept  and  groaned  for  a 
long  time.  Then  I  rose  and  said,  I  thought  it 
was  very  likely  to  end  in  their  keeping  a  buggy, 
at  which  we  all  laughed  as  violently. 

"  The  poor  old  lady,  who  was  sleeping  in  a  gar- 
ret, because  she  could  not  bear  to  enter  into  the 
room  lately  inhabited  by  her  husband,  sent  for 
me,  and  kissed  me,  sobbing  with  a  thousand  emo- 
tions. The  charitable  physician  wept  too.  ...  I 
never  passed  so  remarkable  a  morning,  nor  was 
more  deeply  impressed  with  the  sufierings  of  hu- 


100  APPENDIX. 

man  life,  and  never  felt    more   thoroughly  the 
happiness  of  doing  good.'' 

^'I  never  was  happy/'  said  a  certain  king,  "till 
I  began  to  take  pleasure  in  the  welfare  of  my 
people;  but  ever  since  then,  in  the  darkest  day 
I  have  had  sunshine  in  my  heart.'^ 


Note  B. 

'^  It  is  not  to  be  presumed,"  says  our  last  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  its  Report  on  Systematic  Contri- 
butions, "  that  God  gives  people  a  soul  niggardly 
from  meanness,  or  parsimonious  from  covetous- 
ness;  and  yet  their  contributions  to  the  treasury 
of  the  Lord  are  amazingly  disproportioned  to 
their  blessings  and  resources.  This  can  only  be 
resolved  into  ignorance  of  duty,  or  a  failure  to 
apprehend  the  real  relation  of  liberality  in  alms- 
giving to  their  Christian  profession.  As  ''  what- 
soever is  not  of  faith  is  sin,"  so  whatever  does 
not  appeal  to  their  faith  cannot  permanently  inter- 
est their  hearts.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  our 
churches  have  been  too  much  accustomed  to  look 
upon  giving  as  purely  a  matter  of  Christian  liber- 
ty, a  thing  which  might  or  might  not  be  done,  ac- 
cording to  the  impulses  which  happen  to  prevail 


APPENDIX.  101 

at  the  moment,  without  in  either  case  involving 
the  integrity  of  Christian  character.  What  has 
been  given,  has  been  regarded  as  a  bounty,  and 
those  who  solicit  it  represented  as  beggars.  This 
has  been  a  feeling  implicitly  recognized  where  it 
has  not  been  explicitly  announced. 

"  Appeals  in  behalf  of  the  dearest  interests  of 
Christ's  kingdom  have  been  in  many  cases  coldly 
received,  in  others  formally  repulsed,  on  the  plea 
of  repugnance  to  so  much  begging. 

"It  was  not  that  the  people  were  penurious  or 
mean,  but  that  they  did  not  understand  the  nature 
of  the  case ;  and  the  way  to  remove  the  difficulty 
is  not  by  denunciation  or  invective,  but  by  famil- 
iar exposition  of  the  scriptural  principle  upon 
which  these  appeals  are  made.  The  law  of  the 
Lord,  when  clearly  apprehended,  can  never  fail  to 
tell  upon  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Grod.  That  law  in  relation  to  the  ques- 
tion before  us,  is,  that  liberality  is  a  grace  of  the 
Spirit,  alms-giving  an  office  of  Christian  worship, 
and  collections  for  the  poor  and  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  an  ordinance  of  God. 

''Giving,  in  the  Scripture,  is  put  upon  substan- 
tially the  same  basis  as  prayer;  the  one  is  the  sac- 
rifice of  the  lips,  and  the  other  of  the  substance; 
and  the  acceptance  of  our  gifts  is  a  greater  proof 


102  APPENDIX. 

of  the  Divine  condescension,  than  the  acceptance 
of  our  petitions.  God  needs  none  of  our  oiferings ; 
the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills  are  his,  and  if 
he  were  hungry  he  would  not  tell  us.  But  though 
needing  nothing  at  our  hands,  he  has  condescend- 
ed, for  the  purpose  of  uniting  our  hearts  to  him 
in  profounder  sympathy,  to  assume  a  position  in 
which  he  appeals  to  us  as  really  and  tenderly  as 
if  he  needed  all  things.  Though  our  alms  and 
our  righteousness  extend  not  directly  to  him,  yet 
the  Saviour  is  comforted  and  refreshed  with  the 
humblest  ministrations  to  his  saints  upon  the 
earth ;  it  is  he  who  receives  the  cup  of  cold  wa- 
ter administered  to  his  disciples.  The  believer, 
accordingly,  who  enters  into  the  spirit  of  the 
Christian  doctrine,  must  feel  it  almost  hardly  less 
a  grievance  to  be  debarred  from  the  throne  of 
grace,  than  to  be  prevented  from  casting  his  mite 
into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord,  and  would  as  soon 
think  of  turning  Christ  from  his  doors,  or  leaving 
him  unvisited  in  sickness  and  in  prison,  as  think 
of  slighting  the  appeals  of  Christ's  earthly  king- 
dom to  his  contributions  and  his  sympathies.  It 
is  Christ  whom  we  honour  in  serving  the  interests 
of  his  kingdom,  or  rather  it  is  Christ  who  honours 
us,  in  thus  permitting  us  to  honour  him,  and  as 
all  Christian  duties  are  at  the  same  time  privi- 


APPENDIX.  103 

leges,  and  every  precept  stands  upon  a  promise,  so 
tlie  child  of  God  habitually  experiences  that  "  it 
is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  He  is 
the  beggar  who  solicits  the  favour  of  having  his 
gift  accepted,  and  he  feels  it  to  be  a  distinction 
that  he  can  glorify  God  with  the  fruits  of  his  sub- 
stance, having  given  himself  to  the  Lord.  All 
that  he  possesses  is  equally  devoted,  and  what  he 
uses  for  himself  is  rather  by  permission  than  by 
right  of  property.  It  is  this  principle  which 
makes  alms-giving  a  species  of  thanksgiving,  and 
gifts  a  part  of  our  spiritual  worship.  This  prin- 
ciple underlies  the  whole  subject  of  Systematic 
Benevolence. 

"  The  recognition  of  this  principle,  in  its  full- 
ness and  energy,  is  all  that  is  wanted  to  infuse 
new  life  into  the  Church,  and  to  make  our  offer- 
ings commensurate  with  our  resources. 

"Alms-giving  being  at  once  a  duty  and  a  pri- 
vilege, an  ordinance  of  God  and  a  means  of  grace, 
it  is  manifestly  incumbent  upon  the  courts  of  the 
Church  to  impart  this,  as  well  as  every  other  bless- 
ing of  the  gospel,  to  the  Christian  people.  Any 
believer  has  a  right  to  complain  that  his  soul 
is  neglected,  and  the  fulness  of  his  Christian 
inheritance  impaired,  if  he  has  not  the  opportu- 
nity of  presenting  his  gifts  as  well  as  of  hearing 


104  APPENDIX. 

the  word.  The  General  Assembly  accordingly 
has  done  no  more  than  it  was  bound  to  do,  in  en- 
joining upon  the  Presbyteries  '  to  adopt  some  prac- 
ticable method  by  which  an  opportunity  shall  be 
aflforded,  and  an  invitation  given  to  all  the  mem- 
bers of  their  congregations  to  contribute  regularly 
to  the  objects  of  Christian  benevolence,  recognized 
by  the  Assembly  in  the  organization  of  the  Boards 
of  the  Church,  and  to  such  other  institutions  as  to 
them  may  seem  right/ 

^^  But  it  is  not  enough  that  the  Assembly  should 
command  in  the  name  of  Christ,  it  must  also  see 
that  its  injunctions  are  obeyed,  and  hence  it  has 
required  an  Annual  Beport  from  every  Presbytery 
in  its  bounds,  of  the  diligence  of  ministers  and 
church  sessions  in  complying  with  its  requisi- 
tions. Therefore  our  General  Assembly  enjoins 
upon  the  pastors  and  churches  to  give  greater 
prominence,  in  the  ministration  of  the  word,  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Scripture  as  set  forth  and  in- 
terpreted in  our  standards,  (more  particularly 
chap-  26,  sec.  2  of  the  Confession;  in  quest.  121 
of  the  Larger  Catechism :  in  chap.  7  of  the  Form 
of  Government;  and  in  chap,  6,  sec.  5,  of  the 
Directory  for  Worship,)  namely,  that  'saints  are, 
by  profession,  bound  to  maintain  an  holy  fellow- 
ship and  communion,  in  relieving  each  other  in 


APPENDIX.  105 

outward  things  according  to  their  several  abilities 
and  necessities,  which  communion,  as  God  offereth 
opportunities,  is  to  be  extended  unto  all  those, 
who  in  every  place  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,'  '  giving  and  lending  freely  according  to 
their  abilities,  and  in  conformity  to  this  doctrine, 
recognizing  as  one  of  the  ordinances  established 
by  Christ,'  in  connection  with  the  sermon,  prayer 
and  praise,  a  ^collection  raised  for  the  poor  and 
other  purposes  of  the  Church/ 

*'  2.  Rewlved,  The  Presbyteries,  which  have 
not  anticipated  the  provisions  of  this  action  of  the 
Assembly,  are  most  earnestly  and  affectionately 
enjoined,  (1)  at  their  meeting  following  the  rising 
of  this  Assembly,  to  take  order  that  the  ministers 
and  church  sessions  in  their  bounds,  shall  be  di- 
rected to  adopt  some  practical  method,  by  which 
an  opportunity  shall  be  afforded,  and  an  invitation 
given  to  all  the  members  of  their  congregations, 
to  contribute  regularly  to  the  objects  of  Christian 
benevolence,  recognized  by  the  Assembly,  in  the 
organization  of  the  Boards  of  the  Church,  and  to 
such  other  institutions  as  to  them  may  seem 
right. 

"  And  (2)  at  every  spring  meeting  to  institute 
a  proper  inquiry  into  the  diligence  of  ministers 
10 


106  APPENDIX. 

and  church  sessions  in  executing  the  provisions  of 
such  method. 

^^3.  Resolved  J  The  Presbyteries  are  further  en- 
joined to  enter  on  record  and  report  to  the  next 
General  Assembly,  their  action  on  the  first  part 
of  the  foregoing  resolution,  and  also  to  record  at 
their  next  and  all  subsequent  spring  meetings, 
the  result  of  the  inquiry  prescribed,  and  report 
the  same  to  the  G-eneral  Assembly,  with  the  usual 
annual  Presbyterial  reports,  stating  the  delin- 
quencies and  diligence  of  pastors  and  church  ses- 
sions/^ 

Never  did  our  Church,  or  any  other,  more  plain- 
ly and  practically  hold  forth  the  truth  on  the  rela- 
tion of  Christian  activity  and  liberality  in  the 
cause  of  Christ,  to  all  Christian  prosperity  and 
progress,  than  in  the  principles  and  provisions 
here  set  forth. 

We  trust  they  will  be  universally  responded  to 
by  all  the  Presbyteries  in  our  Church,  in  the  same 
spirit  in  which  they  were  acted  upon  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Huntingdon,  at  its  recent  meeting, 
when  it  adopted  the  following  resolutions : 

^'Resolved,  1st.  That  love  to  Christ's  cause  is  an 
essential  element  of  Christian  piety;  and  a  regular 
communication  of  our  worldly  substance,  accord- 


APPENDIX.  lOT 

ing  as  God  hath  prospered  us,  an  ordinary  and  im- 
portant part  of  practical  religion. 

'^2d.  That  accordingly,  it  is  as  much  the  duty 
of  the  pastors  and  officers  of  the  churches  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  cultivation  of  the  grace  of 
benevolence,  for  the  performance  of  this  part  of 
practical  religion,  as  for  any  other  of  the  offices  of 
religion.     Therefore, 

"  3d.  That  it  be  affectionately  enjoined  upon 
the  pastors  and  the  other  appropriate  officers  of 
the  churches,  to  adopt  and  put  in  efficient  opera- 
tion, some  plan  for  making  regular  collections  for 
the  four  Boards  (and  Church  Extension  Commit- 
tee) of  the  Church,  so  that  a  contribution  for 
each  shall  be  made  at  least  once  every  year. 

"  And  it  is  further  enjoined,  that  one  or  other 
of  the  following  plans  be  adopted  by  each  church, 
provided  there  is  not  an  equally  efficient  one  al- 
ready in  operation. 

''Plan  1.  A  card  or  book  with  the  names  of 
all  the  members  of  the  congregation  upon  it,  with 
columns  for  weekly,  or  monthly,  or  quarterly  sums, 
such  as  they  may  voluntarily  offer  to  pay.  The 
sum  to  be  paid  either  to  the  elders,  the  deacons, 
or  to  persons  specially  appointed  in  each  district 
of  the  congregation. 

^'Plan  2.    Monthly  collections  in  the  church 


108  APPENDIX. 

to  be  divided  amongst  the  Boards,  at  the  discretion 
of  the  deaeonSj  or  (in  case  there  be  no  deacons) 
of  the  Session. 

"Plan  3.    A  quarterly  sermon  in  behalf  of  the 
Boards,  (assigning  a  quarter  to  each,)  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  collection  or  subscription  for  the  Board 
whose  cause  was  advocated  in  the  sermon." 
i 


THE  ENP. 


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